COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. — People living in one North Naples neighborhood are speaking out against a proposed fire station on land near Orange Blossom Drive, citing concerns over potential fire truck noise. The station would go on land owned by the North Collier Fire District, on Yarberry Lane off of Orange Blossom.
"Any sirens, day and night, (would be) affecting a pretty wide swath of people," said Bob Rosenbloom, one of several neighbors who addressed North Collier Fire District commissioners at their regular meeting Wednesday.
Commissioners see an urgent need for a new station to keep up with an ever-increasing demand for their services, estimating that their crews respond to six or seven medical calls in the nearby Carlisle gated community every day. They expect to see that number spike after new housing construction on Orange Blossom is finished.
"When you say 'we don't want a firehouse here,' it's your house that the fire truck could be coming to," said fire commissioner James Calamari.
He and the other commissioners agreed to hold off on plans to go forward with a new station on Yarberry Lane for the time being, and re-examine lots owned by the Carlisle and the Naples Italian-American Foundation. However, those groups have not shown great interest in selling their land to the fire district in the past.
