COVID, Retirements Leaves FL Station Without Firefighters

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A new Florida fire station is without firefighters because of a string of retirements and COVID-19.

The Greater Naples Fire Rescue District had opened its new station earlier this year, but it currently doesn't have enough members to staff it, WBBH-TV reports. Under normal circumstances, three firefighters would staff an apparatus around the clock.

But the recent surge in COVID-19 infections has hit the department hard. Last week, 10 firefighters were out because of the virus.

The station does have EMS workers staffing it right now, Chief Nolan Sapp told WBBH. Firefighters from other stations also are set up to respond to calls in the unstaffed station's service area, he added.

“We have a plan to move in there sometime between now and Oct. 1 based on staffing levels,” Sapp told the Naple Daily News. “Right now, with COVID and everything going on, it has affected the daily staffing level.”