NEW TAMPA — Seven years after Hillsborough County turned to Pasco County for fire protection in portions of unincorporated New Tampa, and six years after switching back to Tampa Fire Rescue, the county is once again preparing to hand those responsibilities to its northern neighbors.
Hillsborough County commissioners approved an interlocal agreement July 15 that will have Pasco County Fire Rescue provide fire services to Pebble Creek, Cross Creek, Live Oak and other unincorporated neighborhoods along Bruce B. Downs Boulevard — including Wharton High School — beginning Oct. 1.
The agreement also includes a lease allowing Hillsborough County to station one of its ambulances at Pasco Fire Rescue Station 26 in Wesley Chapel to handle medical calls in the area and to offer support to Pasco on any non-fire related calls. Fire Station 26 is on Aronwood Boulevard in the Meadow Pointe I community, just north of County Line Road and within 2.5 miles of Live Oak, Pebble Creek and Wharton.
“Hillsborough County is partnering with Pasco County Fire Rescue to provide fire suppression initial response, while stationing one of our HCFR ambulances at their station closest to the New Tampa area,” Commission chairman Ken Hagan said. “This collaboration will reduce costs to Hillsborough County taxpayers, increase revenue and deliver a more effective emergency response.”
Under the proposed agreement, Hillsborough will pay Pasco $250,000 annually for fire services, with yearly increases tied to inflation. The county will also pay about $29,450 annually, with 2% annual increases, to lease space at Station 26 for its rescue unit.
The move replaces Hillsborough’s current agreement with the city of Tampa, which has provided fire rescue service to the area since Jan. 1, 2020.
That contract, approved after Mayor Jane Castor took office, initially cost the county $600,000 a year, but annual increases of 5.8% has pushed its current bill to $890,330.
The unincorporated area has long relied on neighboring agencies because Hillsborough County does not operate a fire station nearby.
The nearest county station is No. 5 on E. 139th Avenue near USF, roughly 10 miles away if you come straight up Bruce B. Downs Boulevard.
Tampa Fire Rescue first began serving unincorporated New Tampa under a mutual aid agreement starting in 1988, and the two governments have entered a series of interlocal agreements over the following nearly-three decades. After then-Mayor Bob Buckhorn ended the arrangement in 2017 amid a dispute over costs, Hillsborough contracted with Pasco County until the county returned to using city services three years later.
Hillsborough will terminate its agreement with Tampa effective Sept. 30 and begin service with Pasco the following day. The county said Pasco can provide fire suppression from its existing facilities while Hillsborough will continue to handle most emergency and medical calls by housing an ambulance and crew at Pasco’s Station 26.
The agencies will also use closest-unit dispatching, allowing firefighters and paramedics from either county to respond when they are nearest to an emergency.
Hillsborough retains the option of ending the partnership if it determines it can provide an equal or better level of service on its own in the future.