Seminole County allocated $184,250 from its budget to fire department stations for safety improvements, according to Fire Chief Matt Kinley.
On April 8, the Board of County Commissioners approved funding to purchase fences, cameras and lights for Seminole County Fire Department stations.
The decision was made in response to the vehicle break-ins and vandalism that occurred in July of last year at Fire Stations 12 and 14. Twelve cars belonging to the department’s crew members were broken into during the incident.
Each vehicle had a shattered window, and several personal items were stolen.
“Immediately after the car vandalisms,” Chief Kinley said, “we prioritized the process to improve or reinforce security measures around the fire stations.”
The upgrades included new lights in the parking lot at Fire Station 12 and repairs to a damaged motion sensor at Fire Station 14.
Using the recently allocated budget, the department will build fences for Fire Stations 12 and 14, with the goal of expanding similar improvements to other stations. These physical barriers will, Chief Kinley said, “hopefully deter somebody from targeting a fire station and just move on to something else.”
Public Information Officer Doreen Overstreet lamented the targeting of firefighters:
“It’s disheartening that this happened to first responders where they serve the public for 24 hours away from home,” she said. “But we are happy about the progress being made to protect our employees and the public.”
Commissioners also allocated $135,000 to hire three emergency communication dispatchers. “Over the past 10 years, our call load has increased by well over 200%,” Chief Kinley said. “We’ve only increased our staffing by about 6% in that time.”
According to the National Fire Protection Association, fire department calls rose from 10.82 million in 1980 to 42.41 million in 2023, a nearly 293% increase. In comparison, the number of fires fell from 2.99 million to 1.38 million, a decrease of about 54%. Medical aid and false alarm calls increased by approximately 463% and 250%, respectively.
The Seminole County Fire Department plans to seek funding to install fences at all stations in the coming years. “We want our responders to feel safe when they’re coming to work,” Chief Kinley said. “They’re out helping save lives and property. We want their property to be safe when they’re not there.”
