Fire Stations 23 & 26 are the most recent additions by the Bonita Springs Fire Control & Rescue District. The twin stations represent the third and fourth reuse of a successful prototype station designed by GMA in 2005. The efficiency and durability of the initial design continues to function perfectly despite advancing technology in firefighting techniques.
Finished in early 2018, Fire Station 26 is located four miles east of Interstate 75 on Bonita Beach Road. The Station provides reduced response time to the rapidly expanding communities in this remote area of Bonita. Completed late in the year, Fire Station 23 is a replacement for an existing outdated station on South Tamiami Trail. Station 23 had previously housed the Fire Prevention Division resulting in a second floor space of unused square footage. The first floor Fire Station was obsolete and inadequate for the current demand for service. Site elements and paving were able to be reused.
Both 7,325 square foot Stations are home to nine full time firefighters and their apparatus. They provide a homelike, residential feel for these first responders including comfortable spaces for dining, relaxing, and agility training. The free flowing relationship between indoor and outdoor spaces invites interaction and promotes camaraderie. Brick cladding and standing seam metal roofs project a sense of permanency while maintaining a residential feel. The stations include a structurally hardened core element to shelter in-place during extreme weather events.