Miami-Dade County Firehouse 56 (West Sunset Station), dedicated on Sept. 28, 2002, is located at 16250 Southwest 72 Street. This station was built in response to the county’s western-end growth spurt. As single-family houses and condo’s continue to pop up, the need for a fire station was obvious. The station is the western-most of the Battalion 13 stations, covering a large area in size; however, most of the territory is undeveloped. The territory consists mostly of single-family residence, along with apartment buildings, strip malls, and public schools. West of the station is the undeveloped, agriculture section of our territory; producing many large brushfires during the dry season. A 6-mile section of Krome Avenue is also situated in our area; it is the western-most major avenue in Dade County running north-south.
Krome Avenue is one of the most dangerous and deadliest roads in Miami-Dade County. To our south is Kendall Drive with its numerous strip malls and multi-story apartment buildings.
Firehouse 56 is the home to E56 an ALS Hazardous Material (HazMat) Suppression Truck and R56 an ALS Rescue Truck. E56 is the only HazMat truck in the southern area of Miami-Dade County, therefore, any radiological, chemical, biological, gas, WMD, or other HazMat related incidents E56 will also respond. Along with the typical tools, appliances and hoses found in a fire truck, E56 also carry a wide variety of HazMat monitoring meters. As an ALS suppression truck, E56 is manned by state certified paramedics equipped with assessing and stabilizing ALS medical calls. R56 is also an ALS truck manned with paramedics capable of treating and transporting the sick and injured of the residents of Miami-Dade County.