- July 12, 2025
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With a ceremonial hose decoupling, ribbon cutting and push-in of a vintage fire truck into its new home, Sarasota County celebrated the opening of its new headquarters for the county’s Emergency Services headquarters.
Located at 6062 Porter Way just off I-75, the new $16 million, 28,418-square-foot facility is the new home to administrative personnel supporting fire and EMS operations working out of 25 locations throughout the county.
“Just five years ago, the Sarasota County Fire Department's administrative staff consisted of a fire chief, EMS chief, operations chief, logistics chief and 10 administrative support staff,” said Director of Emergency Services Richard Collins during Monday’s ceremony. “They worked from a 3,789-square-foot area on the sixth floor the Sarasota County Administration Building in downtown Sarasota.”
Since then the county’s population has grown by 50,000 to more than 480,000, bringing with it a call volume increase of 11.4%. According to Collins, the county has responded to the greater demand with a reorganization of its emergency services personnel to include two deputy chiefs, seven assistant chiefs and several battalion chiefs.
The new headquarters can withstand a Category 4 hurricane. To allow for future growth, there is room for expansion in unfinished space on the second floor.
“We see the potential for adding 46 positions between unfunded mandates for the fire marshal's office that we need to comply with and the growth of our citizens,” Collins said.
The new headquarters is located within a short walk to the county’s Emergency Operations Center where the top administrative and emergency staff ride out and direct responses to hurricanes and tropical storms.
“The administration building represents a continued effort to serve our community and those who serve it at the very highest level as stewards of public safety,” said County Commission Chairman Joe Neunder. “It is indeed our responsibility to provide the proper facilities, tools and resources for our personnel to deliver critical services.
“With people continuing to move here for the highest quality of life that I believe we have of the 67 counties and state of Florida, we know that we're going to need more men and women in our red in our green to help keep us safe and support our daily activities.”
Right now, Neunder said, a call for service goes out every seven minutes and 45 seconds and EMS transports more than 100 patients daily to area hospitals.
“This is dreaming big, and as Sarasota County grows up we have had the great fortune of being able to allocate funding to make incredible days like today happen,” said District 1 Commissioner Teresa Mast. “We look forward to the future of this department in this amazing building, and we are glad to you a place to continue this life-saving work.”
