Destin beach safety, fire district report: 3,300 rescues in 20 years; new equipment and regional capabilities coming

Joe (Beach Safety division chief, Destin Fire Control District) told the City of Destin City Council that the lifeguard and beach safety program has grown into a multi‑agency effort that now covers seven contiguous miles of guarded beach and associated harbor areas. “We rescued 3,322 people in the last 20 years,” Joe said, noting that statistic as a measure of the service’s public‑safety record.

Joe described programs and partnerships now in place: lifeguard coverage across beaches and the harbor, a beach wheelchair program at most entrances, a junior lifeguard program at Henderson Beach State Park, and a lifeguard exchange program that has sent local lifeguards to Australia. He said the city’s recent budget increase improved the service’s maintenance and staffing levels.

Deputy Chief Mike Landis of the Destin Fire Control District explained several preparedness upgrades in the coming year: finalizing a shared dock that will host Okaloosa County Sheriff’s Office boats for faster response, taking delivery of a new boat with an expected late‑March/early‑April arrival that includes a 3,000‑gallon‑per‑minute pump, and expanding the district’s CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear) capabilities — described as the largest in the state when complete.

Landis said the district is also increasing staffing, moving to a new schedule, adding training and recruiting firefighters (12 recent hires with six more planned before summer), and participating in a regional task force to improve surge capacity for major disasters so the area can better handle high‑level incidents without waiting for distant state resources.

Council members asked for public recognition of the services provided; Joe and Landis supported sharing statistics and outreach to highlight beach safety performance. No council vote was taken; the presentations were informational.

Ending: Both officials invited council and staff to support continued training and to publicize the program’s successes. “Those just need to be in the paper,” a council member said of the rescue statistics; leaders agreed that public promotion helps community awareness.