​ORLANDO, Fla. – A major expansion is coming to a busy, but cramped Orlando fire station known as the "beast of the east."

What You Need To Know

  • Orlando Fire Station 11 is set to get a much needed expansion

  • Last year, the station responded to 11,074 calls for service 

  • Orlando officicla said they hope to break ground this spring on the new fire station

​Firefighters at Station 11 respond to a high volume of calls. Last year, the station responded to 11,074 calls for service which made up about 10% of calls total among fire stations across Orlando.

Firefighters working at Station 11 have very little space, with no designated training areas. The current station was built in 1973 and hasn't been updated much since.

Firefighters we spoke to say right now, they're busting at the seams. Plus, the station sits at the corner of Curry Ford and Gaston Foster Road, a highly trafficked area.

The city of Orlando signed off on a new 15,000 square foot expansion for station 11.

This comes as welcome news to people like career firefighter of 22 years turned lieutenant, Jeff McGovern.

"Every morning when we come in, we've outgrown the station," he said.

McGovern mentioned the growing pains start outside, because there's not enough parking for staff. "So there's multiple cars that have to park outside here. Otherwise, we can't fit all the personnel's vehicles inside the parking lot. So that's gonna be a good plus with the new station coming out," he said.

Inside, McGovern frequents the weight room, but the room is pretty cramped.

"Yeah, usually we have a line that waits outside the door here at the station, cause right now with the COVID protocol, we can really only have one person in the weight room at a time," said McGovern.

The space challenges are enormous when it comes to training.

"It makes it really difficult for us to have access to training like this," said McGovern. "The new station will be a lot larger in size. It'll give us a lot more area to train, and it'll have designated training areas for us."

Right now, all too often, the firefighters find the only place to conduct essential training is the same place where they sleep.

The crew is looking forward to their soon-to-be 15,000 square foot space, complete with everything they need to stay up to speed and up to code.

However, in order for the fire station to expand, the adjacent tennis, racquetball, and handball courts in the Dover Shores Neighborhood Center will be removed.​

Longtime professional handballer Edgar "Macho" Diaz has been fighting hard with the city of Orlando to keep his beloved grounds.

"These are the games needed," said Diaz. You cannot take away the games for the kids, or adults. I'm almost 50 years old, and I play this like I was a silly little kid."

Diaz is hoping the city will make up for this lost space.

The city of Orlando conducts regular surveys for community members, asking them what type of recreational spaces they'd like to see more of, and where.

However, there is common ground between Diaz's side and the firefighters.

They agree, the updates are needed, so as McGovern puts it, just like athletes, they can stay in the best shape.

"It's a lot like sports teams, so we've got to train constantly. Keep up with our skill sets. If we don't do that, our skills are going to diminish," said McGovern.

City officials tell us they hope to break ground this spring on the new fire station.