Marco Island Fire Department

[JWL765]

Marco Island is located in southwest Florida, a few miles south of Naples and is a busy tourist destination.  Marco Island's Fire Dept. operates out of a single station, located in the middle of the Island.  Apparatus includes a Pierce Enforcer rescue engine and a Pierce tower/quint.  An E-One engine serves as a spare.  A Collier County EMS ambulance is also housed at the Marco Island station.

[Box 2565]

Hi JWL!

Glad to see you posting here!  Should you happen to know I would be curious to learn what the on-duty staffing is at Marco Island?  Also, do they have automatic mutual aid?

It's often surprising to learn the size of the department that is protecting some of the popular tourist towns.  Both ends of the scale are covered as some of the resort areas have large departments and others small.  Just wondering......

Steve

[JWL765]

Staffing includes 4 firefighters on the engine and at least 2 on the tower, plus a commander, who uses a Ford Expedition as a command vehicle.  EMS staffing is separate.

Mutual aid appears to be automatic.  The nearest department is at Isles of Capri, located a couple of miles off Marco Island....then it's East Naples, whose nearest station is about 10 miles away.  The Isles of Capri department also operates out of a single station, but they have 2 new (in the past year or so) E-One engines....which appear to be identical.  There is lettering on these engines indicating they were purchased with homeland security funds. 

A further note on Marco Island.  Until Fall 2006, they operated a relatively new Pierece Quantum Ladder/Quint, which I recall had the Pierce "all steer" system.  They sold or traded this apparatus for the new Pierce Tower/Quint, shown in the photo.

[RoaddoggAK]

The 105' Quantum w/ All-Steer was sold to Perry Hi-Way Hose Company in Erie, PA. They are currently running it as Ladder 429 out of their station on Robison Rd. They had debated painting it orange when they first got it as to match their present color scheme, but I believe that was thrown to the wayside due to the price.

Here is a pic in it's current state.

http://www.perryhiway.com/apparatus.html

[JWL765]

The Marco Island Fire Dept. put a new Pierce Quantum engine in service during September 2010.  The paint scheme on this new rig is quite different from the white over red colors on the department's other 2 engines and tower.  The new gray over red paint with gray reflective striping is quite distinctive.  This new Pierce bumped a 2001 Pierce Enforcer engine down to backup status.  The Dept. also has a 1991 E-One engine; and I don't know what plans are in place for it.

The Dept. is trying to get support to open a second fire station on the Island to keep up with increasing demand, especially during the tourist season.

[JWL765]

Marco Island's City Council has approved funds to renovate and staff Station 51, located on Elkham Circle -- on the north side of the island.  A paramedic engine will be housed at this station, enabling reduced response times.  When this station becomes active in the near future, Marco Island FD will have 2 engines and a tower-ladder plus a Collier County EMS paramedic ambulance available.

Also, nearing completion is a second 2 lane bridge for SR 951, the main road between Marco Island and the main land.  When completed, the new bridge will carry traffic coming to the Island while the existing bridge will handle northbound traffic.  This additional bridge will be especially important during hurricane season, providing 4 lanes for evacuations.

[GA_Dave]

Does anyone know the apparatus history of this department?  Many years ago, I photographed a rig in Georgia that supposedly came from Marco Island, but I was never able to confirm that.

[JWL765]

I have information for only the last 10 years.  During that time MIFD rostered the following:

Engines:  E-One, Pierce Enforcer (now E-51), and Pierce Quantum (present E-50)  Don't know if they have the E-One

Trucks:  Pierce Quantum All-Steer Quint (sold to PA FD) and Pierce Tower Quint (present T-50).

I think they also have a Brush truck, but I don't have information on it.

[GA_Dave]

Thanks, but this was a much older rig, an ALF 900 Series 4x4.