HOLMES BEACH – A day at the beach ended in tragedy on May 18 when an unidentified 75-year-old man drowned in the Gulf of Mexico near the 77th Street beach access.
West Manatee Fire Rescue Fire Marshall Rodney Kwiatkowski said that the man was visiting the beach with his wife when he went for a swim. Red flag warnings were posted at Manatee Beach about 25 blocks away, cautioning the public about unsafe water conditions.
Officials believe that the man fell victim to rip currents and high surf conditions. Kwiatkowski said he believes the victim was visiting Anna Maria Island from England and was not a local resident.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family and friends,” Kwiatkowski said. “West Manatee Fire Rescue cautions even the strongest of swimmers from entering the water during red flag hazard conditions.”
The National Weather Service in Tampa Bay/Ruskin issued a rip current statement for coastal Manatee County, including Anna Maria Island, on May 18 at 7:41 a.m. The warning expired at 8 p.m. that evening, but red flags remained at Manatee Beach the next morning.
Swimmers caught in a rip current are advised not to fight the current to get back to shore. Instead, use the current to float out until you can safely swim parallel to shore to get out of the current, then swim back into shore
MANATEE COUNTY – County commissioners asked the county’s seven fire chiefs to consider merging their districts at an April 23 meeting.
Commissioners said they would support doing a study to look into the benefits of consolidating fire districts, adding that they would bring state leaders and the Office of Program Policy Analysis and Governmental Accountability into the conversation if needed.
Manatee County Administrator Charlie Bishop reminded commissioners that they have no authority over fire districts, which are special districts and governed by the state of Florida.
The conversation was brought to the dais by District Four Commissioner Mike Rahn as a result of the volunteer Duette Fire Department seeking a Certificate of Public Convenience and Necessity (COPCN) for non-transport advanced life support capabilities from the county. Receiving a COPCN is one of the many steps for district firefighters to be certified to provide the same care as an EMS first responder. Non-transport ALS means that the firefighters can provide the same medical care as EMS workers but cannot transport patients to the hospital or other care facility. West Manatee Fire Rescue, the department that covers Anna Maria Island, Cortez and the west side of unincorporated Manatee County, is a non-transport ALS provider in addition to having fire response, water rescue and dive team capabilities, among others.
During the meeting, Commissioner Kevin Van Ostenbridge said that Duette does not meet the minimum capabilities to provide non-transport ALS service to its residents and encouraged the fire chiefs to consider merging districts.
Duette Fire Chief Rocky Parker took to social media to dispute Van Ostenbridge’s claim. Parker said that he believes the district meets the requirements to provide the service to residents and will continue to seek COPCN approval, despite the county commission’s argument that the Duette fire department doesn’t meet the requirements because its firefighters are volunteers.
Van Ostenbridge said that there are positives and negatives to living “out in the country” with one of the negatives being that there is less access to emergency services. He suggested that Duette and Parrish fire districts consider consolidating with North River Fire District to provide more services to residents and property owners.
While fire districts are allowed to consolidate, they can only merge with ones contiguous to their established boundaries within the county.
During the discussion, Van Ostenbridge singled out WMFR as a fire district that would be interested in merging with another district. While Chief Ben Rigney said that the district is always willing to keep its options open to better serve residents and property owners, he doesn’t see a merger coming any time soon.
“It seems to come up every five to 10 years or so,” Rigney said of the talk of fire district consolidation in Manatee County. “I did not feel that West Manatee was being targeted or threatened by the discussion from the Manatee County commission meeting. The commissioners are trying to ensure that the fire districts remain fiscally responsible to their communities. I feel that our district has continued to be responsible with taxpayer monies and are always open to working with them on providing a better service.”
Van Ostenbridge said he doesn’t want to see services reduced but would like to see administrative costs reduced.
Commissioner George Kruse said he thinks it’s important to continually look at opportunities but he’s not sure what the opportunity would be. He said he doesn’t want to see residents have different kinds of safety services based on where they live. He said he would rather see fire safety capabilities standardized across Manatee County. Kruse added that he doesn’t want safety services dictated by where people can afford to live.
“I would just encourage people to have that conversation,” Kruse said. “I would like this to be a bigger discussion. Maybe the (state) delegation needs to get involved in it. We seemingly can get free OPPAGA studies at a snap of a finger. It doesn’t commit to anything, but it can support data for future discussion.”
“I want you guys to keep control of all of this, keep control of your own destiny,” Van Ostenbridge said. When the state delegation and OPPAGA studies are involved, he said that the fire districts would start to lose control of their futures.
MANATEE COUNTY – Commissioners and staff at West Manatee Fire Rescue kicked off the new year on a festive note as the district presented its annual awards, recognizing the contributions to the department and community made over the previous year.
Taking home the year’s top honors were firefighters Cameron Frazier and David Miller, who were awarded Officer of the Year and Firefighter of the Year, respectively. Frazier also received an award in recognition of his 10 years of service to the fire district. Miller was recognized for completing his first year with WMFR.
The Rookie of the Year award went to Zackary Misiura while firefighter Jerrod Apple took home the Soteria award, named for the Greek goddess of safety, deliverance and preservation from harm.
Firefighter Mark Tuttle received an award in recognition of his first year of service with WMFR. Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski received recognition for his 15 years with the district. Though not present, firefighter Nathan Bergbom received an award for 25 years of service and firefighter William Bowen received recognition for 20 years of service.
Commissioner Robert Bennett was recognized for serving as the board chair in 2023.
Commissioners also congratulated firefighter Casey Fischbach for her promotion to firefighter second class.
Firefighter
Zackary Misiura took home WMFR’s Rookie of the Year award. - Kristin Swain | Sun
Commissioner Larry Jennis congratulates
firefighter David Miller on his Firefighter of the Year award win. - Kristin Swain | Sun
WMFR firefighter Jerrod Apple receives congratulations
from Deputy Chief Jay Johnson on his win of the 2023 Soteria award. Firefighter
Cameron Frazier received the Officer of the Year award. - Kristin Swain | Sun
Commissioner
Robert Bennett was recognized for his time as chair of the fire district’s board of commissioners in 2023. - Kristin Swain | Sun
WMFR firefighter Jerrod Apple receives congratulations
from Deputy Chief Jay Johnson on his win of the 2023 Soteria award. - Kristin Swain | Sun
HOLMES BEACH – In the early afternoon of Sept. 24, Holmes Beach Police Officer Chris Liotti responded to a dispatch call about a possible fraudulent renter with a bad credit card at 210 72nd St.
When the officer arrived at the home, he met with Adrian Johnson, the owner of Seabreeze Vacation Rentals. Johnson said he received a rental agreement for the property and sent the renter the door code by email, but shortly after, he learned the credit card had been declined. An email and phone call to the renter went unanswered, so he called police.
However, an arrest would be made on an entirely different matter.
According to Liotti’s report, Johnson allowed him and other officers into the home so they could make contact with whoever might be inside. Officers loudly announced their presence, but no one responded. After continuing to order anyone in the home to make their presence known, a male and female came out of a bedroom and said there were more people in the house, but they weren’t sure how many.
Continuing to clear the house, Liotti went to the second floor and found a locked bedroom. A male and female eventually came out, looking as if they had been asleep, according to the report. Officer Jason Higgins escorted the couple downstairs while Liotti continued to the third floor where he found a fifth person hiding beside the bed, who was placed in handcuffs and detained while the officers continued to clear the house.
Liotti noticed the door to the upstairs patio was open, so he walked outside and saw a spiral staircase leading to a rooftop observation deck, which appeared to be empty at first glance.
“After advising the roof was clear, Sgt. Copeman advised he could see someone hiding on the lower portion of the roof,” Liotti said in his report. “I tried to walk across the roofline to try to make contact with the subject, but due to the pitch of the roof, along with the slippery texture, I made the determination it was no longer safe to proceed.”
Police determined the only way to safely reach the roof was with a tall ladder, so they called West Manatee Fire Rescue, which didn’t have a ladder truck available at the time but sent another truck to try and assist. Once firefighters arrived on the scene, the man on the roof, later identified as Eric Woods, 43, of Sarasota, came out of hiding and surrendered. Once he came off the roof, police found there was an active Sarasota warrant for Woods for theft. In addition to being arrested for the warrant, Woods was charged with obstruction and resisting arrest without violence.
No charges were filed against any of the occupants of the home, but Liotti’s report says charges could be issued pending further investigation. None of the other occupants had any warrants and were allowed to get their items and leave the home.
While being processed, Woods complained of an injured foot and was taken to Manatee Memorial Hospital. Afterward, he was taken to Manatee County Jail by a Manatee County Sheriff’s Office deputy.
HOLMES BEACH – On Oct. 1, West Manatee Fire Rescue (WMFR) will begin mandatory annual inspections of all short-term vacation rentals in the fire district that includes Anna Maria Island, Cortez and portions of west Bradenton.
The WMFR inspections are separate from the vacation rental inspections conducted by the cities of Anna Maria and Holmes Beach.
Bradenton resident and Holmes Beach vacation rental owner Michael Wilcox volunteered his three-unit Casa Coconut AMI vacation rental as the first to be inspected and reinspected. Wilcox is a retired fire lieutenant from the Miami Valley Fire District in Miamisburg, Ohio and still holds an active Ohio fire safety inspector certificate. The former firefighter offered his vacation rental units as an official trial run for WMFR and he conducted his own inspection before the WMFR inspection took place.
“I came up with what I think are 19 violations in my three units and some of them are repetitive. I didn’t fix anything before the WMFR inspection,” he said.
Inspection checklist
The WMFR inspections utilize the one-page checklist posted at the WMFR website, www.wmfr.org/short-term-vacation-rental-information.
The vacation rental inspection checklist is posted at www.WMFR.org. – WMFR | Submitted
The checklist includes properly displayed street numbers, properly maintained wall-mounted fire extinguishers, emergency lights at primary exits, smoke alarms in each bedroom, additional smoke alarms in common areas and hallways and carbon monoxide alarms in rentals with gas appliances or attached garages. The checklist notes golf carts are to be charged in a well-ventilated area, with a carbon monoxide detector required.
Vacation rental fire extinguishers should not be stored on the floor. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
All electrical circuits shall be properly identified and extension cords shall not be used as permanent wiring. Dryer ducts must be free of accumulated lint and all paths of ingress and egress shall be kept clear and unobstructed.
A copy of the vacation rental owner’s annual transient public lodging establishment (TPLE) license issued by Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation (DBPR) must be included in the guest information book. The guest information book must also include fire safety information describing the evacuation of the dwelling, smoke detector information, procedures for reporting a fire or other emergency and a unit-specific floor plan that identifies each room and the primary and secondary exits, including the windows.
Initial inspection
On Aug. 21, Wilcox welcomed WMFR Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski, Lt. Inspector Keith Miller and Inspector Josh Adkins to the vacation rental he and his wife own near Manatee Beach.
Rodney Kwiatkowski, Josh Adkins and Keith Miller inspected the exterior of Michael Wilcox’s vacation rental dwelling. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Miller and Adkins began by inspecting the exterior of the dwelling, including the ground-level parking and storage areas and the laundry room.
“We’re looking at everything outside the structure,” Miller said.
As they inspected each rental unit, Adkins entered the observed violations, photographs of the observed violations and additional notes into the handheld digital inspection pad that produced the electronic inspection report emailed to Wilcox.
A smoke detector was missing in one of the Casa Coconut AMI bedrooms. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
The inspection revealed missing or improperly located smoke alarms, non-wall mounted fire extinguishers, fire extinguishers that had not been inspected and certified within the past year, no battery-powered emergency lights near the primary exits and no unit-specific floor plan in each guest information book. Wilcox was given 45 days to correct the violations and schedule a reinspection.
Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski inspected one of Michael Wilcox’s smoke detectors. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
“Vacation rental owners and managers should embrace this process because it’s going to save lives,” Kwiatkowski said, noting that last year more than 73% of the residential fires in the district occurred at vacation rentals.
“As long as it’s not a violation that poses imminent danger, a grace period of 45 days will be allowed to become compliant. The Florida Fire Prevention Code gives us flexibility and we’ll weigh all options and come up with the best solutions when applicable,” he added.
“If you rent or advertise for rent your place three or more times for less than 30 days at a time you need a TPLE license from DBPR; and the state fire marshal’s office says we have to inspect these TPLEs annually. We have roughly 3,000 vacation rentals that are appropriately registered through DBPR. We are told by three different software companies that we likely have closer to 5,000 vacation rentals in our district.”
A recently-approved WMFR resolution formalized the fire district’s intent to categorize vacation rentals as commercial properties, rather than residential properties, for the WMFR tax assessments that appear on a property owner’s annual property tax bill. The increased tax revenues will help cover the fire district’s increased inspection costs and letters were sent to property owners informing them of the commercial assessment rate.
Kwiatkowski said anyone who wishes to challenge the district’s right to inspect short-term vacation rentals would be challenging the Florida Fire Code adopted by state legislators.
“They’re taking on the state of Florida, because they’re the ones that wrote the law,” Kwiatkowski said.
“The code tells us we have to do this,” Adkins added.
“Our goal is to work with property owners/managers to gain compliance,” Kwiatkowski said. “If, and I stress if, a property owner/manager were to refuse to meet the minimum fire and life safety standards required under Florida Administrative Code 69A-43, we would use the full force of our state enforcement powers, including, but not limited to fines or shutting down the business in order to keep the public and first responders safe. That’s a scenario I am hoping will be avoided through good quality public education.”
Wilcox said he spoke with other vacation rental owners and property managers who expressed anxiety about WMFR classifying vacation rentals as commercial properties for taxation purposes.
“I got my tax bill yesterday and it’s going to go up $700, total, for all three units on this property. Nobody wants to pay more, but I don’t mind paying that because I think there’s value in having this program,” Wilcox said.
Follow-up inspection
On Sept. 13, Kwiatkowski, Adkins and Inspector Nick Riffe returned for the follow-up reinspection that revealed all previous violations were corrected.
Josh Adkins, Nick Riffe, Michael Wilcox and Rodney Kwiatkowski were present during the follow-up inspection. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Wilcox displayed his rechargeable emergency lights that plug into an electrical outlet near the main exit and come on when the power goes off. He bought them at Amazon.com for about $10 each and also placed one in each bedroom.
Rechargeable emergency lights have been placed throughout the Casa Coconut AMI rental units. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Regarding his now-wall-mounted fire extinguishers, Wilcox said some rental owners he spoke with expressed consternation about the aesthetics of wall-mounted fire extinguishers versus placing them under the sink or in some other less conspicuous location.
“Aesthetics don’t save lives,” Kwiatkowski said.
Fire extinguishers must be wall-mounted in a vacation rental unit. – Joe Hendricks | Sun
Wilcox spent about $500 correcting his violations.
“Next year it’ll be about $100 to have the extinguishers serviced and my taxes are going up about $700,” Wilcox said of his future compliance costs.
When asked what he learned during the inspections, Wilcox said, “It confirmed to me that the intent isn’t to close down vacation rentals. The intent is to make them safer.”
Wilcox noted that for the past several years the Florida Legislature has unsuccessfully attempted to preempt all short-term rental regulation to the state and take that authority away from local governments.
“Eventually it’s going to pass. When that happens, it’s going to take the enforcement away from the cities, but it won’t affect the WMFR inspections. There will still be something in place that’s not negated by future legislation,” Wilcox said.
“A lot of the property owners are worried about what the inspections will include and how extreme they’re going to be,” Adkins said. “This wasn’t a hard task for Mike. It was simple and it took seven days – and the majority of that time was waiting for the fire extinguisher company inspection.”
“Our goal is to support local businesses and ensure that they’re safe so the guests keep coming back. We’re asking vacation rental owners and managers to go to our website and schedule their inspections,” Kwiatkowski said.
BRADENTON – West Manatee Fire Rescue’s board and staff are moving forward with beginning an annual inspection program for vacation rentals in the district that will reclassify the properties as commercial for fire district purposes.
Commissioners voted unanimously during an Aug. 15 meeting to move forward with the plans, despite some concerns stated by the public.
Under the new program, the district will assess vacation rental properties, also called transient public lodging establishments, as commercial properties, regardless of their zoning. District staff also will annually inspect these properties for life safety, looking for items such as fire alarms, carbon monoxide alarms, fire extinguishers and proper egress from each bedroom in case of an emergency.
Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski said that after sending a letter in July to over 12,000 people in the district describing the new program, he said he’d received 12 written responses and 87 phone calls from the public, each one of which he said had been amicably resolved. A few more people stepped up during the public hearing to voice their concerns and questions about the new initiative.
One man said he only wanted to rent his property for one year. Kwiatkowski said that for the one year he rents the property, it will be assessed as a commercial property, however, when he stops renting the property, it will revert to a residential property in the eyes of the district and be assessed as such.
Kwiatkowski said the new assessment rate and inspections are allowed under the Florida Fire Code. Under the questioning of district attorney Maggie Mooney, he added that the district’s classification of properties does not affect those by any governing municipality and does not change property from residential to commercial for county or city property tax purposes.
Attorney Aaron Thomas stepped up to the mic, stating that he was representing the ownership of more than 500 rental properties in the district. Thomas said that he feels there is sufficient case law to argue against the district assessing vacation rental properties as commercial and suggested that his clients may seek legal action if the district pursues the change.
The district charges property owners a non-ad valorem assessment rate which appears on TRIM notices each fall. The rate consists of a base rate that is adjusted based on the size of the building on a property, not the value. On average, a commercial property owner, as defined by the district, will pay about $200-300 a year more than a residential owner, depending on the size of the structure.
MANATEE COUNTY – Property owners located in West Manatee Fire Rescue’s district recently received some mail they likely weren’t expecting from the fire department.
District leaders sent out a letter to all property owners in the district, spanning Anna Maria Island, Cortez and unincorporated Manatee County in west Bradenton, notifying them of an upcoming public hearing to discuss increases in assessment rates. The good news for property owners is that unless you own a vacation rental property in the district, your rates won’t increase much.
While most residential property owners will be looking at an average $13 increase in non-ad valorem assessment rates in the coming 2023-24 fiscal year from the fire department, owners of vacation rentals will be looking at a more significant increase to the tune of a few hundred dollars depending on the size of the unit.
The change for vacation rentals comes by way of the Florida Fire Code, which allows for districts like West Manatee to classify vacation rentals as commercial properties operating in residential districts, even if the property is zoned residential. The reason for the change in WMFR’s district is to allow fire inspectors to inspect vacation rental properties – seen as businesses despite their location – for safety and compliance with fire prevention measures such as placement of fire extinguishers, plans for egress and placement of fire alarms. The inspections are slated to begin with the new fiscal year on Oct. 1.
Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski said that vacation rental owners should not be concerned about needing high-ticket items such as sprinkler systems. He also said that the district will be working with other organizations already conducting safety inspections, such as the Holmes Beach Code Compliance division, to make sure that efforts are not duplicated.
Changing the classification for the district of vacation rental properties also changes how those properties are taxed for services by the district. While the zoning for the properties is not changing, under the fire code they’re now viewed as commercial rather than residential properties, triggering an increase in rates. The increase in funding allows WMFR to complete the staffing needed for the new inspection program, including the hiring of a new fire inspector and assistant for the Fire Prevention Bureau.
The public hearing is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 15 at 6 p.m. at the district’s administration building, 701 63rd St. N.W. in Bradenton. The public is invited to attend and speak in person or over Zoom.
Someone once said, “Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a mother.” In recognition of all mothers, for all they’ve given and sacrificed for us, West Manatee Fire Rescue District offers three ways you can honor your mother this coming Mother’s Day, 2023.
Make sure Mom has working smoke alarms. Did you know the shelf life of a smoke alarm is ten years? If the date of manufacturing cannot be read or there is discoloration or yellowing of her current smoke alarms, those are good indications they need to be replaced. Also, it is recommended batteries be changed twice a year; many people choose to do this at the same time they change their clocks in the spring and fall. Additionally, if your mother or someone in her household has a hearing impairment, there are specialized smoke alarms that compensate by creating a strobe and vibrating the bed.
Help prevent Mom from falling. Did you know each year 3 million older people are treated in emergency departments for fall injuries? Here are some ways you can help prevent mom from falling: remove electrical cords, shoes, and other items that may be in the way of foot traffic. Use non-slip mats in the bathtub and on shower floors and have grab bars installed on the wall next to the bathtub, shower, and toilet. Finally, ensure that stairways and paths of travel, inside and out, have proper lighting.
Make sure Mom has a working fire extinguisher. Did you know fire extinguishers are an active fire protection device used to extinguish or control small fires during an emergency? It is important to have the proper size and type of extinguisher when fighting a fire and to know your limits. WMFR recommends a 2A-10BC fire extinguisher in every home. Also, fire extinguishers should be placed in a conspicuous, accessible location, generally in a normal path of travel. WMFR recommends you not store your fire extinguisher underneath the kitchen sink. Most home fires start in the kitchen, as a result of unattended cooking. We do not want residents to go into a kitchen, during a fire, to retrieve an extinguisher.
West Manatee Fire Rescue offers fire extinguisher training every third Thursday of the month. For more lifesaving information, and to sign up for our next fire extinguisher class, please visit our Fire & Life Safety Bureau tab at www.wmfr.org
MANATEE COUNTY – Fire assessment rates will be increasing for residents and business owners in the West Manatee Fire Rescue district.
Though rates in WMFR’s district could go up as high as 6.7%, the assessment rate for the 2023-24 fiscal year is expected to increase by 4%, or about $13.42 for the average homeowner.
Commissioners and staff met on April 18 for a mid-year budget workshop prior to the board’s regular monthly meeting. During the meeting, Chief Ben Rigney gave commissioners three rate proposals for the new fiscal year set to begin on Oct. 1 – a 0%, 4% or 6.7% increase. Rigney recommended the 4% increase to allow for additional funds to be collected through tax assessment revenue to help fund district needs, primarily the addition of nine new staff members.
The planned new hires include six firefighters – two additional people per shift with one of the new firefighters stationed on Anna Maria Island – two new fire inspectors and a financial clerk who was just hired as support staff for the district’s fire prevention bureau.
The two new fire inspectors would work to help with inspections of vacation rental properties in WMFR’s district, an initiative planned to begin in October. Inspectors will be operating under the Florida Fire Prevention Code and looking for any potential dangers to life or safety on the properties. Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski said that inspectors will operate independently of any vacation rental inspection or certificate programs already in place on the Island, though he added that they would try to work with all city code compliance/enforcement personnel to not overlap efforts and inconvenience property owners.
The increase in assessment also covers the cost of increases in insurance and planned raises, among other administrative items for the district. The district’s assessment rates are based on the size of a building on a property or a flat rate if the property is vacant, not the property’s value. With a 4% increase, income from assessment rates would increase an estimated $382,482 in the 2023-24 fiscal year from $9,562,071 to $9,944,554.
District property owners will see the increase on their TRIM notices this fall if it is approved by a vote of fire commissioners during the board’s May meeting.
Currently, district property owners with a 2,000-square-foot home pay $336.22 per year for fire and rescue services through the district when they pay their tax bill. With a 4% increase, that amount would rise to $349.63, an increase of $13.42.
The owner of a 2,000-square-foot commercial property paid $753.19 to the district in the 2022-23 fiscal year. That number would increase to $783.32 if the 4% increase is approved, a jump of $20.13.
Commissioners are expected to vote on the proposed assessment rate increase during a May 16 meeting at the district’s administration building.
BRADENTON BEACH – Black smoke could be seen rising high into the air after a fire started on March 8 at 403 Gulf Drive S., Unit D in a four-unit condo building known as Birds Nest.
Bradenton Beach Police Officer Steve Masi and Lt. Lenard Diaz were the first to arrive on the scene after getting through the long line of spring break traffic.
“Since it was unknown whether the building’s units were occupied, as soon as I arrived, I exited my vehicle and ran towards it,” Masi said in a police report. “In passing, I saw the building’s owner, and Unit A resident, Mr. Bettona. I asked him if anyone was in his unit or any other and he said nobody was in his, but they were all rented, so possibly, yes.”
Masi ran up to Unit D, which he said he could clearly see was on fire from the outside and touched the door handle to see if it was hot. Since it was only warm, Masi entered the unit, which was filled with smoke, and said he could visibly see the fire coming from the right side of the condo. He announced himself and asked if anyone was in the unit, while lying on the floor to reduce smoke inhalation. After Masi cleared the unit, he went back down to assist with traffic and crowd control with other officers, since fire crews were on the scene at that point.
In a department report, West Manatee Fire Rescue (WMFR) firefighters note they could clearly see the smoke from the fire as they were crossing the Cortez Bridge into Bradenton Beach. Engine 121 was the first to arrive on the scene and noted heavy smoke and fire coming from the Unit D corner of the two-story-over-parking structure building. The E121 team assumed command and advised a firefighter to stretch a 200-foot line to the affected area while another officer from E121 conducted a 360 check of the building, finding one vehicle and no residents present.
Additional trucks arrived, including ladder engine 139 and trucks from Longboat Key and the City of Bradenton, who also assisted. WMFR’s report notes that fire attack did a good job of extinguishing the fire both interior and exterior and all searches came back negative. According to Fire Marshal Randy Kwiatkowski, the fire started on the exterior second-story balcony of Unit D, but the exact cause was undetermined.
Firefighters extinguish a fire in a second-floor condo at Birds Nest Apartments, 403 Gulf Drive S. in Bradenton Beach on March 8. – Lewis J. Unger | Submitted
“Our investigation could not determine the cause of the fire in part because the extent of damage to the area of origin compromised the integrity of the balcony, creating an unacceptable life safety risk to our investigators,” Kwiatkowski said. “I did call Bradenton Beach Building Official Steve Gilbert, who responded and condemned Unit D. There were no injuries to firefighters or residents. Also, one note of extreme importance is, at the time of the fire, there was one resident in Unit D in the shower who heard the sound of a smoke alarm. Because of the working smoke alarm, he escaped the fire unharmed. I cannot stress enough that working smoke alarms save lives.”
The fire marshal said the building is a four-unit, all-wood construction apartment building. Units B, C and D are licensed transient public lodging establishments/vacation rentals and all three were being rented at the time of the fire. Once the building was cleared of hot spots and the area was cleaned of debris, residents of the undamaged units were allowed to return.
“Without the extraordinary professionalism of West Manatee firefighters and our partnering agencies, this would no doubt have ended more tragically,” Kwiatkowski noted.
It’s that time of year again. You know, when the average high temperature is approximately 74.1 degrees Fahrenheit, the UV index is 6 and the dew point is a very comfortable 58. Oh… and the traffic to the beaches is bumper-to-bumper and stretches west of 75th Street along Manatee Avenue and Cortez Road, respectively. Thousands of those headed to Anna Maria Island are vacationing, staying in one of the roughly 3,500 vacation rental properties or the dozens of resort-style hotels. Spring breakers from the north are here to enjoy some much-deserved sun and fun. These vacationers are welcomed with open arms; however, there is a lot of information they need to know to fully enjoy their time here and return home safely. Our local beaches, pools and waterways pose a significant safety risk.
Studies show:
Drowning kills about 4,000 people each year in the United States;
Drowning is the leading cause of death for children 1-4 years old;
There are about 8,000 emergency department visits for nonfatal drowning each year;
Injuries and deaths from drowning cost the United States $53 billion in 2020;
DROWNING IS PREVENTABLE.
This March, in an ongoing effort to combat these risks, the West Manatee Fire Rescue District continues its annual Drowning Prevention Campaign. This campaign is designed to bring awareness to the drowning risks those living and playing in our community face, as well as to educate the public on how to safely enjoy water-related activities.
A volunteer waves a sign to raise awareness about water safety near Manatee Beach. – Submitted | WMFR
WMFR’s Fire & Life Safety Bureau, with the assistance of local elementary school teachers and other volunteers, kicked off this campaign with a sign-waving event on March 4 at Manatee Beach. Join WMFR in its effort to make sure everyone has a relaxing, fun and, most importantly, safe Spring Break in 2023.
MANATEE COUNTY – At the urging of members of the district’s fire prevention bureau, West Manatee Fire Rescue’s board has approved changing the status of short-term rentals in the district from residential to commercial.
Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski first presented the idea to the district’s commissioners during a January meeting. He said that under the Florida Fire Code, the district has the ability to reclassify the properties for assessment and enforcement purposes. Under the code, short-term rental properties are known as transient lodging, a commercial classification.
Changing the classification of the properties is estimated to bring in an additional $1 million annually in assessment revenue. The funds will be used to implement an inspection program.
All short-term rental properties in the district will be inspected for fire safety, including where smoke alarms are placed throughout the property, availability and location of fire extinguishers, an easily visible floorplan of the structure with exits clearly identified and other safety measures. Kwiatkowski said that while owners may need to implement some new fire safety measures, they shouldn’t expect to have to do something costly, such as install sprinkler systems.
With the new program comes the hiring of a new fire inspector and administrative assistant for the fire prevention arm of the district to handle the increased workload. The district plans to post the jobs immediately with hiring and onboarding anticipated in July. Kwiatkowski said that there is enough money in the current fiscal year to cover salaries and purchase of new equipment for the new hires until the Oct. 1 beginning of the new fiscal year, when inspections are anticipated to begin.
During a Feb. 21 commission meeting, Kwiatkowski said that he had received good feedback from stakeholders in the local rental industry. The main negative feedback he said he’d received was concerning the percentage increase, not the dollar increase,
in annual fire assessment rates. The rate for commercial properties is about twice what it is for residential properties in the district.
District personnel also will be working with already-established vacation rental inspection programs, such as the one in Holmes Beach, to make sure there’s no overlap of efforts and rental owners’ businesses are disrupted as little as possible.
ANNA MARIA ISLAND – Vacation rentals are a popular use of residential properties both on the Island and in unincorporated Manatee County where West Manatee Fire Rescue’s district is located. Now district leaders are looking at reclassifying those properties within their district as commercial properties for enforcement and tax purposes.
During a January board meeting, Fire Marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski presented the idea to the district’s staff and board of commissioners as a life safety concern. With so many people in and out of vacation rentals across the district and limited oversight from government agencies, as a preventative measure, he said he’d like the district’s fire prevention bureau to be able to inspect the properties for safety.
Inspections would include looking for items such as properly placed smoke alarms, fire extinguishers, floor plans of the home indicating exit points, emergency lighting and other precautionary measures commonly found in commercial properties. To fund the initiative, he suggested the fire department’s staff look into the possibility of assessing the owners of vacation rental properties in the district as commercial rather than residential properties. If that happens, it will mean a jump of approximately $200 per year, depending on the size of the property, for vacation rental owners and an increase of more than $1 million in funding to the fire district.
To run the program, Kwiatkowski said the district would need two more inspectors and an assistant at an estimated cost of $350,309 per year with an additional $140,000 needed to pay for department vehicles for the new hires.
Currently, the district charges a fire assessment on residential trim notices at a lower rate than they do for commercial properties. And while multiple-unit residential properties are already assessed and inspected as commercial properties, traditionally residential properties, such as single-family homes and duplexes, are still treated as if a full-time resident lives there. Because they are rented, Kwiatkowski said that under the state’s fire code, the properties are identified as transient public lodging establishments, allowing for them to be inspected by the fire district’s staff. This is the same designation given to a hotel.
In the past three years, Kwiatkowski said that of the 11 residential structure fires on the Island, eight of them were at vacation rental properties. In 2022, he said there were three pediatric drownings or near-drownings on the Island, all of which occurred at rental properties.
He presented the proposed project at a Holmes Beach Code Compliance town hall meeting with vacation rental owners and representatives on Jan. 31, reassuring the rental community that the fire department would be working with local municipalities to make sure that enforcement and inspections would not overlap with those currently taking place on the Island as a result of city efforts to make rentals safer for visitors. He added that the inspections would likely begin taking place in the fall.
In 1871, from October 8th through the 10th the city of Chicago was ravaged by a fire that destroyed 3.3 square miles. For perspective, the whole of Anna Maria Island is 3.96 square miles. When the great conflagration was finally extinguished, 300 lives perished, the fire burned nearly 18,000 structures, left approximately 100,000 people homeless and cost $200 million in losses (adjusted for inflation, that is $5.4 billion by today’s standards). In 1922, In remembrance of this tragic event, the United States government declared the week surrounding October 9th National Fire Prevention Week. This year, on the centennial of its declaration, National Fire Prevention Week remains the longest uninterrupted national observance.
The Great Chicago Fire. – Submitted
In the past, in observation of National Fire Prevention Week, West Manatee Fire Rescue District visited public schools and pre-schools within our district and educated children about the power of fire and the many ways in which we, as individuals, and as a community can prevent a repeat of The Great Chicago Fire.
Our observance of National Fire Prevention Week has always culminated in our annual Open house event. Our annual open house is and has always been a free event, hailed by many as “the hottest event of the day” throughout Manatee County, and features fun-filled activities designed to entertain and educate the public regarding fire and life safety. Tragically, the emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020 disrupted this tradition, making 2019’s Open House the last of these occasions before the pandemic forced communities into a long period of quarantining and social distancing. Recently, our community and extended communities to the south of us were battered ferociously by Hurricane Ian.
Throughout various epochs of history, communities have rallied during times like these under a simple, yet powerful, Latin phrase – Post Tenebras Lux, (After darkness, light).
With our community returning to a greater semblance of normalcy in this post-COVID era and with the ongoing and overwhelming outpouring of community cohesion in the name of recovery, we believe it is not only important but necessary, to resume the West Manatee Fire Rescue District Annual Open House tradition and come together as a community. To that end, we are thrilled to announce WMFR will be hosting the return of our Annual Open House on Saturday, Nov. 5 from 11 am until 2 pm at West Manatee Fire Rescue District Station 1, located at 407 67th St. W., Bradenton, FL 34209. Come out, meet your local first responders and enjoy free food, drinks, games, tours of a fire truck and much more. We hope to see you there!
In early 1933, United States President Franklin Delano Roosevelt (FDR) gave the first of many of his uplifting Fireside Chats. FDR used the growing medium of radio as a direct conduit to have “conversations” with the American people regarding the many challenges we were facing at the time. Topics included the ongoing banking crisis, recovery from the Great Depression, the New Deal, record home foreclosures and more.
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt – Submitted | The History Channel
The purpose of our series of Fireside Chats is similar in that it is our hope to initiate open communication directly with the people of West Manatee Fire Rescue District about the issues we face as a community regarding fire and life safety. In this column, we will discuss all things fire and life safety related, both from an operational and prevention-based perspective. We’ll even discuss the differences between the two. We will also talk about fire codes, which are broad in breadth and scope, along with codes more narrowly related to specific types of occupancies, a term used to indicate the intended use of a space.
Other chats will feature talks about general everyday threats, such as drowning, and heat-related emergencies including exhaustion and stroke, among others. There also will be discussions on specific seasonal threats during holidays like Thanksgiving, Christmas, Independence Day, hurricane season and more.
WMFR responded in Fort Myers during the aftermath of Hurricane Ian. – Submitted | Chief Ben Rigney
Fireside Chats is also an opportunity to learn about what goes on at your local fire station. Here we’ll talk about fire department call types, call volume, trends, demographics and a multitude of other topics. Along the way, much like FDR during his Fireside Chats, we hope to educate, be educated, spread a message that prevents loss to property and life and, most importantly, help our community members to be as safe as possible.
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