REPORT
On behalf of the Okeechobee County Public Safety Department, I am honored to present our 2024 Department Report.
As your Public Safety Director and Fire Chief, it has been an incredible privilege to work alongside each of you. The year 2024 was a year of tremendous growth and achievement for our department. We responded to unprecedented challenges but also celebrated remarkable milestones.
As we look ahead to 2025 and beyond, we remain focused on providing the highest level of service and care to the citizens and visitors of Okeechobee County.
Thank you for your continued dedication to excellence and for making a positive impact on the community. I look forward to the continued growth and successes we will achieve together.
-EarlWooten
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
Attended a variety of seminars to include:
Governor’s Hurricane Conference, Florida Emergency
Preparedness Association Annual Meeting, Mass Fatalities
Incident Response, Emergency Planning, and Florida Recovery
Obligation Calculation (F-ROC) Comprehensive Training.
Hosted Okeechobee ‘Be Ready’ Town Hall to prepare citizens. Guests attended from the National Weather Service and news media meteorologist partners.
Upgraded EOC Operations room including new chairs for all stations and new computers.
Multi-day activations for Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton.
Activated the warming center four times to have an average of 3-4 clients per night.
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
RECOVERY EFFORTS
Individuals signed up for FEMA: 1,483
Funds disbursed for recovery efforts: $2,677,794
Damage assessments completed: 351
Value of damages reported: $5,874,656
Improved F-ROC score by 4% for a total of 52/60
Assisted with County’s Public Assistance Reimbursement request for Hurricane - estimated total $1,500,000
Category A – Debris
Category B – Emergency Protective Measures
Six local mitigation projects were submitted for the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program which totaled over four million dollars in grant funds.
LOOKING AHEAD
Continue mitigation and coordination with local/state partnerships to provide the best resources for Okeechobee.
MOSQUITO CONTROL
Conducted 13 applications of Ultra Low Volume (ULV) road treatments that covered over 600 miles and over 22,000 acres.
Secured funding to assist with aerial spraying after Hurricane Milton that treated over 250,000 acres.
Notified public with 14 media releases including licensed organic farmers and beekeepers of aerial chemical release.
MOSQUITO CONTROL LOOKING AHEAD
TRAPDATAFUNFACTS:
HIGHEST MOSQUITOCOUNT
9/9/24- 4,992
HIGHESTWEEK 7INALLTRAPS
/8/24- 8,085
Working with trap data, we secured nearly 100% increase in state grant funding for mosquito control.
The department renewed the contract for 2024-2025 with Clarke Mosquito Control.
Continue efforts to mitigate the mosquito population in Okeechobee County and educate the public of our resources.
Improve our media release outreach program.
E-911
LOOKING AHEAD
We will be transitioning from the Legacy Lumen 911 to INdigital Next-Gen Core Services (NGCS). Advantages include faster delivery of calls, more accurate location data, and many others.
Enhancing 911 mapping through RapidSOS.
Continuing a leadership role in Region 6.
Seeing what AI looks like in the E-911 field.
Grant funding was received for five years to transition to the next generation of 911.
FIRE RESCUE
OUR MISSION
To make Okeechobee the safest community possible, we will continuously strive for excellence in all aspects of fire rescue services essential to the health and well-being of our citizens and visitors.
A BRIEF HISTORY
Okeechobee County Fire Rescue was created when county commissioners merged the county fire department with the hospital ambulance service in 1980.
Since then, OCFR has operated under the guidance of six fire chiefs, utilized many volunteers, and have now seen multiple generations serve our community.
PRESENCE IN THE COMMUNITY
Our members sit on many boards, clubs, and other community organizations because we believe in Okeechobee and are truly invested in our town.
You can see us at ball games, parades, functions in the parks, or anywhere members of the community are gathering.
PRESENCE OUTSIDE THE COMMUNITY
Through Chief Wooten’s guidance, our agency has become much more relevant in the fire community outside of Okeechobee County. Fire Administration meets regularly with senators, representatives, and other leaders across the state to ensure that Okeechobee is being represented properly when decisions are being made that affect our community.
TOTAL CALLS FOR 2024 - 7,448
This is in line with 2023, which had a total of 7,454 calls
TOTAL FIRE CALLS FOR 2024 - 1,459
A slight increase over 2023, which had a total of 1,014 calls
TOTAL EMS CALLS FOR 2024 - 5,989
A decrease from 2023, which had a total of 6,440 calls
TOTAL TRANSPORTS FOR 2024 - 4,850
A slight increase from 2023, which had a total of 4,757 transports
COMMUNITY RISK REDUCTION
We educate the public about:
Smoke Detectors
Fire Extinguishers
Car Seat Safety
Drowning Safety
First Aid/CPR
Our goal is to prevent fires from occurring by enforcing fire safety codes, identifying and mitigating potential fire hazards through inspections, permits and investigations. The Prevention Bureau also participates on the City and County planning committees for all future developments.
TRAINING
Updated EMS training certificates for all personnel.
Conducted a successful live training burn of one acquired structure.
Initial development of the Peer Support Team and initiated classes for the entire department on mental health.
Developed and implemented an On-Shift Facility Training Program (saving in overtime costs) utilizing our new training tower.
Provided in-service training on four new types of equipment items such as: hoses/nozzles, pediatric restraint devices, Rapid Intervention Team (RIT) bags, and liftbags for extrication.
Redeveloped and structured the Field Training Officer (FTO) Program.
TRAINING
HOURS OF TRAINING
Driver Training Company Training EMS Training Facility Training Officer Training Hazmat Training
Total 1,036 13,616 1,544 972 144 312 17,624
All personnel are required to stay up to date on training hours in order to stay compliant with state fire and medical licenses.
OKEECHOBEE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE
LOOKING AHEAD
A NEW engine is scheduled to arrive March 2025, replacing a 32 year old engine!
A rechassis of a current ambulance, anticipated to arrive in May 2025. The rechassis is a cost savings of over $200,000.
A new ambulance is expected to arrive October 2025.
The department is applying for the Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response (SAFER) grant to fund 13 new positions for three years. These positions will improve response times, increase command support, as well as enhance the health and safety of our crews.
The department is also applying for an Assistance to Firefighters (AFG) grant to fund a ladder truck.
OKEECHOBEE COUNTY FIRE RESCUE
LOOKING AHEAD
Enhance training programs for emerging risks, such as active shooter, mass casualty, and technical rescue.
Upgrade training facilities and equipment to support more immersive and realistic training scenarios.
Teaming up with various agencies from the Treasure Coast, we will be hosting a large training event that will include live fire training as well as advanced command and operations level training.
