The Broward County Commission is questioning whether to wrest control of countywide fire-rescue services from the Broward Sheriff’s Office, a change that would affect delivery of services from Weston and West Park to Lauderdale Lakes.
The county’s Fire Rescue department is up for discussion during the Commission’s Aug. 20 meeting, according to a newly released meeting agenda. It’s a “motion to discuss … the process necessary to bring the Broward County Department of Fire Rescue under the operational control of Broward County.”
In recent years, some communities have gauged whether they should keep contracting with the Broward Sheriff’s Office, arguing that the benefit of having a centralized law enforcement agency is outweighed by Sheriff Gregory Tony’s persistent requests for funding increases and a lack of control over how the money is spent.
Earlier this year, Deerfield Beach voted to sever its ties with the Sheriff’s Office, returning within two years to an independent police and fire-rescue department.
Pembroke Park went independent with its police force in 2022.
Pompano Beach, on the other hand, voted to stick with the Sheriff’s Office for the next two years.
Broward County Fire Rescue operated independently until 2003, when it merged with the Sheriff’s Office to serve most unincorporated areas of Broward County and the cities and towns of Cooper City, Dania Beach, Deerfield Beach, Hallandale Beach, Hillsboro Beach, Lauderdale Lakes, Pembroke Park, West Park and Weston through contract agreements, according to the sheriff’s website.
More than 800 firefighters, paramedics and administrators work for the sheriff’s Fire Rescue.
In April, Broward County Commissioner Lamar Fisher requested a study on fire-rescue services to accompany the county’s look at whether to pull security duties at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport and Port Everglades from the Sheriff’s Office. That study is still ongoing, and the move to discuss at the Aug. 20 budget workshop does not reflect a preview of its findings, Fisher said.
“I don’t think it was a mistake to merge with BSO when we did,” he said in April. “But times have changed. It’s worth looking at.”
Reached last week, he said the scheduled discussion on Fire Rescue is a significant next step in the process, should the county want to go through with it.
The county’s contract with the Sheriff’s Office for the Fire Rescue service is up for renewal every five years, and the county needs at least a one-year transitional period if it’s going to revert to a county-run service.
That means a decision would have to be made by next year, Fisher said, making now the right time to start the discussion.
No prior contract renewal was met with a request or a study on what it would take to revert to a county-run Fire Rescue.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.