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Seattle Fire Department outlines 2026 budget priorities and expansion of overdose response
Summary
The Seattle Fire Department presented the mayor's proposed 2026 budget and described plans to expand staffing, mobile integrated health services and recruit classes to address rising 911 call volume and overdose response.
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,…
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