Seattle Fire Chief Harold Scoggins says that each day the fire department responds to three to five encampment fires. He also said that It’s taxing a fire department that is short-staffed. It is reported that the department is operating with 9% fewer firefighters than has been budgeted. They are in the process of recruiting for 90 firefighters.
A hot spot is at 53rd Street and 14th Avenue in Ballard where there have been several tent fires over the last two years. The city has had enough. It had given sidewalk campers in a two square block area a 48 hour notice to remove their belongs. The city says that the camps are considered a ‘safety hazard”.
The Seattle Fire Department is reporting that they are on pace to break a record for responses to homeless encampment fires and medical aid calls at the camps. Data sent out shows that last year the department responded to 1,446 calls of encampment fires which was nearly doubled from 2020’s total of 854. From Jan. 1 to April 10 of this year, the department has responded to 478 encampment fires. In 2021 during the same time period, it was 327. The year before that, they responded to 168 encampment fires.
EMS is also seeing record calls as fire and rescue are connected within the same organization. Chief Scoggins said EMS units respond to 30 to 35 medical aid calls in encampments daily. So far this year, there have been 3,102 EMS calls to encampments. The department is moving fast and is well on its way to beating the total number of EMS calls in 2021, which was recorded at 11,230.
Scoggins said the fire department and rescue average between 250 to 275 calls to 911 for service city-wide every day. Encampment calls are now approaching 15% of the daily calls the department gets. The Portland Medium has reported on the gun violence in encampments for week. Violence has increased in camps. The firefighters sometimes have wear ballistic vests and helmets.
