Oak Harbor Fire Department reports rising call volume, Station 82 progress and SAFER grant application plan

Oak Harbor Fire Chief Travis Anderson presented the Oak Harbor Fire Department’s 2024 annual report to the City Council, highlighting a year of rising emergency medical service work, efforts to modernize department identity and training, and progress on a new fire station (Station 82).

Chief Anderson said the department handled 1,636 calls in 2024 with a growing share attributable to medical responses; staff expect medical calls to represent about 58 percent of call volume in 2025. Anderson said the department changed its response model to dispatch fire units immediately to higher‑acuity EMS calls to reduce response time and improve outcomes.

Station 82: Anderson reported construction began in March and crews discovered contaminated soil during excavation; the city removed about 82 tons of contaminated soil and disposed of it under Department of Ecology procedures. He said the remediation and related issues increased station costs by about $25,000. The contractor reported being near schedule: Anderson said vertical construction put the project back on track and that the contractor expected station construction to be completed in December with the city’s plan to complete punch‑list work and occupancy in early 2026; Anderson said the department’s tentative staffing plan would put personnel in the station after training and equipment onboarding in 2026.

SAFER grant application: Chief Anderson said the department will apply for a FEMA SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant and will ask council for authorization at the next council meeting. The proposed SAFER application requests federal funding for six firefighters; the grant structure presented to council proposes the federal share to cover 75 percent of salary and benefits in years one and two, 35 percent in year three, and then the city would assume 100 percent of salaries and benefits in year four onward. The total four‑year SAFER request was presented as approximately $1.5 million with an estimated city obligation of $937,000 over the grant term if awarded.

Department operations: Anderson summarized inspections, prevention work and training: 234 inspection hours, 131 code violations corrected, 45 permits issued (a 55 percent increase year‑over‑year in permit revenue), more than 3,500 hours of training and 1,023 community certifications (CPR and other classes) in 2024. He also flagged a rising number of false alarms (20 percent of call volume in 2024) and said the department will pursue enforcement and education to reduce repeat false alarms.

Council questions focused on grant delivery and staffing. Councilmember Romero asked whether SAFER grants are routed through the state; Anderson replied they come directly from FEMA. Councilmembers and staff discussed timing of academy training (12‑week academies) and the city’s prior levy and how grant timing interacts with the city’s staffing costs.

Ending: Anderson said the department will return with a formal SAFER grant application and requested council authorization to submit the federal grant application at the next council meeting.