The West Manatee Fire Rescue District has acquired a part of its roots on Anna Maria Island.
WMFR executed a $1 million contract Jan. 7 with Bradenton Beach Fire Lodge Inc. to purchase the former fire hall at 201 Second St. N., Bradenton Beach.
The property was originally owned and developed by the Bradenton Beach Volunteer Fire Department in 1931 and it was active as a station for decades, even after the BBVFD was incorporated into the Anna Maria Fire Control District in 1951.
However, when the AMFCD merged with the West Side Fire Control District to create WMFR in 2000, the fire hall was decommissioned.
At that point, the BBVFD, which maintained ownership of the property, became known as West Manatee Fire & Rescue Volunteers Inc.
The same corporation was later renamed Bradenton Beach Fire Lodge Inc., a nonprofit that funds youth scholarships in honor of Brian Reed, a WMFR firefighter who died in 2001 at the age of 39.
William “Buddy” Bowen, president of Bradenton Beach Fire Lodge Inc., also serves WMFR as a first-class firefighter/paramedic.
Last summer, WMFR reached a deal with the nonprofit to purchase the fire hall for $1 million — a proposal approved Sept. 9, 2025, by fire district commissioners.
However, the deal was not closed until Jan. 7, when both parties met to sign the contract.
The Islander conducted a joint interview with Bowen and WMFR fire marshal Rodney Kwiatkowski the same day, following the contract’s execution.
Both expressed satisfaction with the deal.
Kwiatkowski said the fire hall, which sustained damage from hurricanes Helene and Milton in 2024, could be redeveloped in the future to serve as a fourth fire station.
“We’re extremely excited about it and looking forward to the future of that property,” he said.
While the district covers the entire island, WMFR’s only island-based fire station is in Holmes Beach.
Proponents of a station on the property have argued that it could improve response times to the island’s southern end.
In the meantime, Kwiatkowski said the district is exploring potential improvements to the property so it can station firefighters there for spring break.
“If it’s safe and compliant, we’ll be there,” he said.
Bowen said the deal was a win-win since the nonprofit was reorganizing and could not afford to rebuild or refurbish the damaged fire hall.
He said the nonprofit was happy to sell the property — which he said could have gone for $5 million — at a “steep discount” to WMFR.
“My first thought was, as the president of the association, that’s our first charitable thing back to the community: to sell it at a discount,” Bowen said. “It benefits the community in multiple ways.”
Bowen added that the sale reduces the nonprofit’s overhead and helps fund its other charitable works.
“The idea is to take all the money that we make off of that principal and donate every bit of it back to the community,” he said. “This money is not leaving the community. It’s going to stay right here.”