Making new friends on the outskirts of town
This story is part of Hillsborough County's 50-for-50 Series, a historic review of some of the memorable events, dates, and people in the history of Hillsborough Fire Rescue, which was born on Aug. 27, 1973.
Want to know more? Read additional stories that show the growth, bravery, and specialized operations of Hillsborough County's largest department.
Hard to believe now, but not that long ago, Hillsborough County Fire Station 3 on Big Bend Road at Summerfield Crossing felt like the outskirts of town.
Now among the County's busier fire stations, in the '90s Station 3 was a quiet outpost. Crews there were always ready to deal with the country brush fires and high-speed crashes on a less-busy U.S. 301, but they also often had slow days.
Since Station 3 is perched just north of a pond, slow days often meant dreaming about fishing.
Since Station 3 is in Florida, fishing often meant competing with alligators.
Station 3 had a special alligator that patrolled the pond behind the station and tested the bravery of the firefighters who would come back on their off day to fish there. Station 3's alligator was famous for only having one eye.
The one-eyed alligator of Station 3 went without an agreed-upon name. Different shifts called him different names over the years. Maybe the most apropos option was Popeye. Station 3 firefighters noticed that Popeye became a little more aggressive over the years as he got more comfortable around the crew.
Station 3 crew kept their distance from Popeye until one day a firefighter noticed the gator had mysteriously lost his left eye. They figured he lost it in a fight with another creature over access to the fishing hole.
Alligators typically have exceptional vision, but after the incident, Popeye developed depth perception issues. This caused him to be increasingly dependent on the charity of firefighters sharing scraps at the end of big meals. A decade or so later, it became illegal to feed alligators in Florida and the crew at Station 3 could have been a case study in why.
Feeding alligators is particularly dangerous because it causes them to associate humans with food and nobody wants gators thinking about dinner when they are looking at firefighters.
Feeling sympathy for the gator after Popeye lost his eye, the crew started treating him more like family. More like a really food-aggressive family member that needed to be given plenty of space.
Of course, as the years went by, space along Big Bend Road became harder and harder to come by and the neighborhood became too busy for a one-eyed country gator.
Some firefighters say Popeye wandered further south to find a new home with less traffic and congestion - paving the way for a lot of Hillsborough residents just looking for a little space away from the hustle of the city.