ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. – St. Johns County officials hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony Saturday morning to celebrate the opening of a new fire station and sheriff’s office substation.
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The new $10.5 million Fire Station 11 and Sheriff’s Office Operations Center are located on Cypress Links Boulevard, off State Road 207, in Elkton.
“It’s the right place and the right thing to do to just provide better services under one roof, a one-stop shop for the men and women of course, that work for the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office and St. Johns County Fire Rescue,” Sheriff Robert Hardwick said.
St. Johns County Fire Chief Sean McGee said he was surprised to see so many people from the community at the ribbon-cutting ceremony.
“I was really surprised that there’s this many people out here this morning, a lot from the community. It’s great to see, I hope they stay engaged. It’s their fire station. We’re here to serve them,” McGee said. “I encourage everybody to keep coming through, you know, stop and see the crews walk through the stations at any time.”
In May 2024, McGee announced the county would open five new fire stations, including Fire Station 11, over the next six years to help them get ahead of the rapid population growth and reduce response times.
McGee also said building and renovating fire stations isn’t the only focus for the county. They’re also working to build a training facility. He said they’re still working to find a site to build it.
“We’re looking at adding another 105 firefighters to our department, which is going to require training on their part also,” McGee said. “So the training center is another really big initiative that’s going to help us.”