Seattle Fire Department Chief Scoggins and deputy finance director Lori Chan told the Select Budget Committee on Sept. 29 that the department's proposed 2026 budget focuses on staffing, mobile integrated health (MIH) services and readiness for large events.

The department said the proposed budget is $348,000,000 with 1,213 full-time equivalents and that it includes funding to hire 100 new firefighters in 2026 through two recruit classes, including a planned 80-person class in February. Chief Scoggins said vacancies stood at about 100 and that the department anticipates unit outages and half-year savings in some accounts until recruits are fully onboarded.

The department framed the budget around four lines of business: operations (engines, ladders, medic units out of 33 stations), fire prevention (inspections, plan review and enforcement), resource management (dispatch, training, emergency preparedness) and administrative services (HR, finance, public affairs). Chief Scoggins said the fire alarm center handled rising 911 volume and that 2024 was the department's busiest year at more than 112,000 emergency responses.

Health programs and alternative response were a major focus: Chief Scoggins described HealthONE, Health 99 and Health 98 units that provide follow-up and overdose care, and said the budget adds staff to run Health 99 seven days a week, new nurse-practitioner capacity and vehicles. He gave these program numbers: more than 1,400 overdoses responded to since launch, 727 non-duplicated clients touched by teams, and 15 patients given the 30-day long-acting buprenorphine injection. Scoggins said the nurse line triaged about 8,000 calls this year and the department is close to 10 case managers.

Other proposed investments included funding for a fire-department data strategist, additional fire prevention staffing and human resources support for recruitment. Chief Scoggins highlighted a plan to add 20 additional funded firefighter positions in 2026 (part of the 100 new hires planned) and said equipment and facility projects are timed to support large events, including FIFA next year.

Council members questioned the state of mechanics and vehicle replacement cycles, the scale-up plan for alternative response units, case management for firefighter injuries, and whether training and wellness resources will be increased. Chief Scoggins said mechanic staffing is up, noted a large order of engines and ladder trucks arriving in 2027 (11 engines and three ladder trucks), and described the department's occupational-health and return-to-work efforts to reduce overtime costs. He also confirmed recruit outreach and application dates (applications open Oct. 7; recruitment events planned at Fire Station 32 and North Seattle College).

The committee took no formal vote on the budget during the briefing; the department presented the mayor's proposed budget and answered council questions.

The presentation and committee discussion emphasized rising call volumes and expanded MIH as a cost-and-demand response: the department described efforts to reduce repeat high-utilizer calls via case managers and HealthONE follow-up, and the planned expansion of Health 99 to seven days a week to increase alternatives to ambulance or emergency-department transport.