Orange County’s new Horizon West fire house meets booming demand in growing west Orange

May 01-- May 1--Orange County's newest fire station, its first in the booming Horizon West community near Disney, means more money in Joan Sullens' pocket.

The Horizon West resident now qualifies for a premium-reducing, fire-protection discount on her homeowners insurance policy because firefighting crews are much closer.

"We don't want to hear sirens but if you need the sirens you want them closer than 22 minutes away which is where they were before," said Sullens, 68, who moved to Central Florida from Minnesota about three years ago.

The closest Orange County fire station had been on Apopka-Vineland Road, about seven miles away.

Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings and James Fitzgerald, Demings' choice to be the next chief of Orange County Fire Rescue, on Tuesday helped cut the ribbon on Station 44.

"It's a tremendous growth area," Demings said.

The new firehouse, which went into service April 2, sits on property leased to the county by Orlando Health, which is building a 112-bed hospital across Porter Road.

The company operates a 78,000-square-foot emergency-medicine facility on the 74-acre property, about a mile south of the New Independence Parkway exit on State Road 429.

Disney is about 7.5 miles farther south.

Similar to a trailer, the new firehouse is a temporary modular building but will be staffed around-the-clock by firefighters, paramedics and emergency medical technicians.

A fire engine and an ambulance will be parked on a concrete pad under an aluminum canopy at the site.

Crayon artwork, a welcoming gift from grade-schoolers at nearby Independence Elementary School, adorned the new firehouse.

"While this beautiful structure might be considered a temporary home, our place here in this community is most definitely secure," Demings said.

The county, which plans to build three firehouses to serve Horizon West, wasn't slated to build a permanent fire station in the area until 2025.

Six years was too long to wait for the county's fastest-growing community, said Commissioner Betsy VanderLey, whose west Orange district includes Horizon West.

She had sounded the alarm for a fire station shortly after she was elected in 2016. Residents often complained some emergency responses took 10 minutes or longer.

VanderLey's concerns grew last year as builders in Horizon West accounted for two of every three construction permits issued in Orange County.

"When this issue was first identified for me, people were having a very difficult getting their homeowners insurance because the community was under-served in terms of fire protection," VanderLey said. "This station is a game-changer out here."

The community's population is estimated at about 22,000 now, though it may some day be as large as Apopka, Orange County's second-largest city, which has 51,000 residents.

According to Orange County property appraiser records, 1,546 new single-family homes were built and sold in Horizon West in 2018.

The new fire station will serve as home to crews until a permanent station is built on Reams Road, south of Summerlake Park Boulevard.

The temporary station was needed because the future site didn't allow for construction work and active operations at the same time.

Fitzgerald, expected to be sworn in as chief next week, said the temporary station will save lives.

"It will change outcomes in a positive way for this community," he said.

[email protected] or 407-650-6361.

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