Residents press county to fund new fire station after multiple house and brush fires

Dozens of residents from Stewart West, Cobblestone and surrounding neighborhoods urged the Martin County Board of County Commissioners on April 22 to prioritize construction of a new fire-rescue station on Martin Highway near I‑95 to shorten response times.

The push follows three recent total‑loss house fires and several brush fires in Western Palm City that speakers said were aggravated by long response times from the Map Road station. "By the time they got there, the fire had already taken a hold," said Deb Vygotsky, a Stuart West resident whose home suffered a total gutting in a December fire. "A few minutes could have changed everything."

Why it matters: Residents and community leaders said minutes matter for medical and fire emergencies. Rochelle Tetko, a former cardiac-care professional, told commissioners that in cardiac arrest "brain damage begins within 4 to 6 minutes and the chances of survival drop by 10 percent every minute without treatment," and…