Fire marshal urges life‑safety-first approach amid rising transient lodging risks

Rodney Kwiatkowski, fire marshal for West Manatee Fire Rescue District, told commissioners that treating short‑term rentals primarily as a life‑safety issue would protect residents and visitors while avoiding duplication of effort among agencies. He cited local statistics showing a marked drop in the share of single‑family structure fires involving transient public lodging establishments after annual inspections and outreach: "Between 2022 on Anna Maria Island, 73% of the structure fires at single family homes were TPLE; last year that 73% was 19% and so far this year they're 4%," he said, attributing improvements to consistent inspections and education.

Kwiatkowski recommended routing state licensure and renewals to fire authorities for automatic review, using interlocal agreements so owners are not subject to multiple inspections by multiple building departments, and including standard life‑safety checklist items (egress, emergency lighting, guest information). He emphasized that the fire role is narrowly focused on life safety and that other code issues (pool barriers, stormwater) may involve other county authorities and the Florida Swimming Pool Safety Act.