Seaside Fire Department presents 2024 annual report: EMS calls dominate, new training tower and ambulance service highlighted

Division chiefs from the Seaside Fire Department presented the department's 2024 annual report, summarizing personnel, calls, capital improvements, training and lifeguard activity.

The department reported eight paid staff (including the fire chief) plus 21 volunteers and two resident positions, with plans to increase resident firefighters to six. The station remodel completed in December added sleeping rooms and a day room and came in under budget. The department also built a new, four‑story training tower with two burn rooms and a confined‑space prop; staff said the project cost about $900,000 and will be used by mutual aid partners.

Wildland deployments were significant: Seaside personnel supported multiple statewide incident management efforts and prepositioned engines, with deployments ranging in duration; staff said federal incident management resources have become more limited and Oregon saw an unusually large acreage burned. Last year marked the department's first full year of ambulance operations; the department reported 13 ambulance transports and approximately $200,000 in billed transports with roughly $80,000 collected after payer adjustments and Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement rates.

Prevention efforts included increased school outreach, company‑level inspection training and a state grant to fund beach safety signage. The department noted 34 water‑rescue calls in 2024 and described close coordination with neighboring beach agencies for rescues and training. Lifeguards reported a record season of public attendance — staff cited an estimate of 818,000 visitors for the season — and documented hundreds of prevention contacts, surf rescues and found‑person assists.

Chiefs also described reimbursement procedures for state wildland deployments; the city is generally reimbursed for personnel and vehicle time after incident accounting, with Oregon reimbursements typically arriving within weeks or months and out‑of‑state (California) reimbursements taking longer. Councilors thanked the department for its work and asked follow‑up questions about signage, faded state signs at Cove locations and capital timelines for a replacement water tender.