Fire chief reports record call volume in 2024; committee places quarterly accreditation report on public-safety agenda

Fire Chief Bailey told the Public Safety Committee on Feb. 18 that the Snoqualmie Fire Department closed 2024 with its highest call volume to date and presented quarterly accreditation statistics on incidents, mutual aid, transports and inspections.

"We finished 2024 with the highest that we've ever had here in the city," Bailey said, giving a year-end total he reported as 1,715 calls. He said August was the department's busiest month, with 75 calls, and that the department sees higher call volumes during summer months and visitor seasons.

The report compared 2023 and 2024 call types and mutual aid patterns. Bailey said EMS calls were down roughly 10% year-over-year while false alarms and "good intent" calls increased, a change he attributed in part to canceled calls when units respond outside city limits and calls are later cleared by the district requesting mutual aid.

Bailey presented mutual-aid and transport data, noting cross-jurisdictional responses: he reported the department assisted Eastside Fire on 493 responses, assisted Fall City on 45 and responded four times to other jurisdictions; mutual aid received into Snoqualmie rose slightly. For transports, Bailey reported 284 patient transports originating from Snoqualmie; 73 transports were to facilities in the Eastside service area and most local transports went to Snoqualmie Valley Hospital and Swedish Medical Center.

The chief said the department will work to improve reporting displays next year, adding unit-counts to the mutual-aid table and a new billing report from their third-party transport-billing vendor to track revenue from out-of-area transports going forward.

Council members asked about apparent shifts in EMS call categorization and whether increased staffing will reduce times when the city is without an available unit. Bailey said the department added three firefighter/EMTs this year and is exploring dashboard and analytics services that will better track unit availability and reliability metrics. "One of the benefits of that also is going to be we're going to have a lot more staffing in the city than we have in the past," he said.

On performance measures, Bailey noted turnout-time targets (goal: 1 minute 30 seconds) and apparatus travel times (most on-scene times within eight minutes). He said outliers are reviewed monthly by officers and explained common causes, such as night responses when crews must don gear.

Inspections dipped slightly in the fourth quarter, he said, because crews spent additional time on training for new hires; the department nevertheless met inspection goals for its 1-, 2- and 3-year inspection cycles. He reported two notable fire-loss incidents earlier in the year: a picnic-shelter fire (approximately $3,500 in losses) and a downtown structure fire in April that he said was roughly $1.3 million in loss.

Chair Rob Watton asked whether the committee wished the quarterly report to appear on consent or under public safety as an informational item. Committee members agreed to place the report under public safety for information at the regular council meeting. Bailey said he will refine tables and consider adding unit-response counts to future quarterly reports.