Fire Chief Jeff Lee and St. Lucie County Fire District officers told the Fort Pierce City Commission on April 14 that the district is expanding station capacity, hiring new firefighters and pursuing an in‑county training facility to address growing call volume and an anticipated staffing shortfall.

Lee said the district—an independent countywide special district that traces its origins to the Fort Pierce Fire Department—now operates 17 stations and employs roughly 475 uniformed firefighters plus 74 civilian staff. He told commissioners Station 18 is expected to open next month, Station 19 is under construction on South Kings Highway and Station 20 is planned for Port St. Lucie later this year. The district also plans future sites off Andrea Road and elsewhere to keep pace with county growth, he said.

The district has recently hired batches of firefighters—Lee said he had hired 24 and expected to hire another 15 soon—and faces what he described as a statewide personnel “cliff” of retirements and workforce shortfalls over the next 18–24 months. The chief said potential changes being discussed in the Florida Legislature to shorten firefighter work weeks would increase staffing needs by about one third of a shift if adopted by large departments.

Lieutenant Jonathan Fraga, who described the Fort Pierce origin of the department, and other division leaders spoke about specialized capabilities: St. Lucie Air Rescue (flight paramedic Rob Schooley), Special Operations and Hazmat (Jason Grishanik), tactical medics who work with the sheriff’s office (Lt. Erin Story) and community risk reduction and cadet programming (Kayla Gamay). The district also described having Aircraft Rescue Fire Fighting (ARFF) capability at Station 4 for the St. Lucie International Airport.

Commissioners pressed Lee on recruitment and local pipelines. Commissioner Sharon Johnson, who serves as chair of the fire board, said the city can help promote firefighting careers to attract homeowners and workers into the urban core. Lee said the district gives preference to local applicants and runs a cadet program for ages 14–18; he reported the cadet program turns people away and said a future training facility at Station 19 could increase local training and hiring capacity.

Lee said the district is pursuing property next to Station 15 on Avenue D and Seventh for expansion and has added a second rescue to Station 15 because of call‑volume increases in Fort Pierce. Commissioners asked about timelines: Lee estimated roughly a year from October for the South Kings Highway station construction completion and indicated Station 19’s opening timeline depends on permitting and county land transfers.

The district’s presentation emphasized that its governance is a seven‑member fire board (two commissioners from Fort Pierce, two from Port St. Lucie, two county commissioners and a gubernatorial appointee) and that the district is funded primarily by property taxes across the service area. Lee asked the commission to help promote firefighting careers locally and to support training investments.

Commissioners thanked the district leaders and offered to coordinate on recruitment outreach to local youth and cadet program expansion.

Ending: The commission did not take any formal action at the April 14 meeting on district funding or station sites; the session concluded with an offer from commissioners to assist recruitment and community outreach.