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Harbor patrol outlines rising medical calls, recent boat fires and new fees for non-emergency tows
Summary
Harbor Patrol presented quarterly and year-end 2025 statistics showing medical aids and vessel distress leading call volume, described a December boat explosion ruled accidental, and said the department is charging for routine, non-emergency tows while installing a fire pump on a patrol vessel.
Kurt Mahoney, a harbor-patrol leader, told the Redondo Beach Harbor Commission on Feb. 9 that medical-aid calls and vessels-in-distress accounted for the largest share of harbor responses in late 2025 and that the department is shifting routine workload to paid services to preserve emergency capacity.
"For Q3, we had 232 calls total in the harbor, with 86 of those emergency response," Mahoney said, adding that medical aids top the list of call types. He later summarized annual activity and stressed coordination with the U.S. Coast Guard and Los Angeles County lifeguards for serious incidents.
The report detailed several operational and safety issues. Mahoney described two separate rock rescues and a later incident the department classified as a multi-casualty event, noting the department activates county multi-agency coordination (MAC) procedures when multiple patients require hospital-bed coordination. He also recounted a December explosion and large fire at King Harbor Marina that an arson-investigation report labeled accidental during fuel-line work: "The fumes accumulated in that area enough, and there was an ignition source and it blew," Mahoney said.
Commissioners questioned whether the harbor should have permanent firefighting pumps or dock hoses. Mahoney said the department is installing a fire pump on the patrol vessel Crystal Liner and that the city must balance budget priorities: "We realized that that's not adequate. In fact, it just went to the boatyard today to have that install begin." He noted the need to preserve firefighting capacity once the planned boat ramp opens.
Mahoney also described a policy change on non-emergency tows: routine, benign tows that previously relied on harbor-patrol assistance are now billed to the vessel owner to deter noncritical use of limited patrol resources. "That is less so now because those within the community understand that they're gonna be charged," he said, noting private tow companies have become more active in the harbor.
The commission asked the department to explore training, and Mahoney said staff plan a boating-community "fire service day" in April to cover hands-only CPR, fire-extinguisher use and basic first aid. The commission received the safety reports and voted to file them.
The harbor master and staff will continue to weigh equipment requests against the city budget and planned harbor projects; Mahoney recommended careful public education on when to call 911 and when paid services are appropriate.
