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Fort Lauderdale fire rescue warns boat-response gaps as marine calls tie up units for hours
Summary
City marine teams and fire-rescue officials told the Marine Advisory Board that dive and boat rescue calls routinely take area fire units out of service for more than an hour, highlighting staffing gaps and prompting exploration of funding for a second fireboat and other measures to reduce coverage gaps.
Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue officials told the Marine Advisory Board that recent marine search-and-rescue calls can keep fireboats and associated engine companies tied up for well over an hour, creating temporary coverage gaps across the city.
Chief Eric Knowles, marine team coordinator and battalion chief, said the department’s average dive-call duration for the responding engine, ladder and rescue companies is “an hour and 24 minutes and 12 seconds,” with a 90th-percentile call time of about 2 hours and 19 minutes. “We get 1 hour of search time,” Knowles said, describing the department’s operational standard for on-scene diving searches.
The figures followed descriptions by Captain Chad Robertson of multiple recent incidents that required multiagency searches, including dives where crews found dive gear but no missing diver and a commercial dive-boat case in which a diver disappeared in about 60 feet of water after search efforts of three-and-a-half hours were handed over to the U.S. Coast Guard.
Knowles said the department currently fields 58 members on the marine team, conducts training roughly four times per week in four-hour blocks, and requires five personnel to make a safe dive operation (an officer in charge, a driver, a primary and backup diver and support). “Diving is the most dangerous thing we do in the fire service,” he said, stressing the training and personnel demands.
Board members and staff discussed a proposal to add another fireboat and to find funding to close staffing and coverage gaps. Susan Grant from the city manager’s office confirmed that a community donor has offered partial funding and that staff recently identified a boat that “will meet the needs of the city,” with further funding pieces being pursued. The department also noted the city’s 42-foot fireboat is slated for replacement in 2027.
Officials described the practical effect of long marine calls on land coverage: when boats and the associated engine companies are on long search or rescue calls, those units are temporarily unavailable for other emergency responses elsewhere in their zones. The board discussed staffing models used by other jurisdictions and options for partnerships or adjusted deployment during high-demand events.
The board did not adopt a formal funding decision but recorded that staff are exploring purchase options, donor contributions and schedule changes to reduce the operational gaps identified by Fire Rescue.
Board members and staff recommended continued outreach to the city commission and noted plans to present detailed cost and staffing proposals if and when a funding package is finalized.
