County wants to staff fire stations; Replacing volunteers with full-time firefighters would cut response times by half.(B SECTION)

Byline: CHAD BINETTE chad.binette@heraldtribune.com

SARASOTA COUNTY -- Two East County fire stations, the county's only two staffed entirely by volunteers, likely will get full-time firefighters next year.

The county commissioners said Friday they want to hire 18 firefighters, some of them paramedics and others emergency medical technicians, to work at the Old Miakka and Myakka Valley stations.

Staffing both stations 24 hours a day will improve East County residents' chances of surviving heart attacks because emergency personnel will be able to get to them much sooner, Fire Chief Brian Gorski said. Improved response times also limit damage from fires.

About five volunteers staff the Old Miakka station and about nine volunteers are based at Myakka Valley, Gorski said. Because they have to go to the station to get a firetruck before heading to an emergency, response times often are about 15 minutes. That time could be more than cut in half with full-timers, Gorski said.

The East County volunteers will assist the full-time firefighters, who could begin working in January, he said. Volunteers also help firefighters at the approximately 20 other fire stations that the county runs.

Gorski said he believes it's the right time to start staffing the East County stations because the number of emergencies in those areas is increasing, and because it's getting more difficult to recruit volunteers due to stricter training requirements.