Fire Station 17 nearing completion on Six Mile Cypress Parkway

The Fort Myers Fire Department hopes to cut response times in half for multiple neighborhoods with a new fire station on Six Mile Cypress Parkway between Daniels Parkway and Colonial Boulevard.

The 12,000-square-foot Fire Station 17 will serve Colonial Boulevard and portions of I-75, and it will be more than just a fire station. Capt. Matt McGee with FMFD says he is glad that this fire station will not only provide a service to the community but will also benefit city workers. If a garbage truck needs to get some fuel, this station has a fuel depot that any city vehicle can use at any time.

McGee says this is what the area needed for FMFD to better serve the community.

“This station house is needed in the city; we’re right on the border, but there’s a couple areas that we just can’t get to in a timely manner, that we want to get to,” McGee said. “It meets the requirements of the national standard, but the city requirements for our fire department, we’d like to be quicker.. this house is giving these communities that are closer a better response so we can get to their emergencies sooner.”

Fire Station 17 is set to open in the coming months. Its amenities will include a gym, several rooms to sleep in, a place to barbecue and a place for anyone to come and recharge. McGee says firefighters spend a third of their lives on the job, so they’re glad this station really makes it feel like they are at home. Not only will this be beneficial for the fire department, McGee says, but for the community.

“We have a community center that the community can use anytime,” McGee said. “We also have an open lobby that walkers, runners, anybody outside wants to use the bathroom, get water and escape the elements can do that at any given time.”

Construction is set to be completed by the end of spring or early summer.