This is what we want’: Panama City Beach Fire Rescue sees dip in calls in 2026.
PANAMA CITY BEACH — Despite booming tourism throughout the area, local first responders have experienced a dip in calls.
According to Chief Ray Morgan of Panama City Beach Fire Rescue, his department responded to 3,080 calls between the beginning of January and the end of June. This is 144 fewer calls than during the same time period last year.
Despite booming tourism throughout the area, Panama City Beach Fire Rescue experienced a dip in calls between the first six months of 2024 and the same time period in 2023.
“We’re doing a good job on educating our community on the hazards in the area,” Morgan said. “People who visit our community are being a little safer, being a little more mindful of these things. … This is what we want to do. We want to reduce the call volume we have.
“If we can continue that trend, then that means we’ve done our job.”
According to information provided by Morgan, PCBFR calls for the first six months of 2024 were split into nine categories. The following shows how numbers for each category in 2024 compare with 2023:
Fires − 61 in 2024 vs. 77 in 2023
Over pressure rupture, explosion, overheat (no fire) − five in 2024 vs. 10 in 2023
Rescue and emergency medical service − 1,946 in 2024 vs. 1,952 in 2023
Hazardous conditions (no fire) − 45 in 2024 vs. 63 in 2023
Service call − 351 in 2024 vs. 401 in 2023
Good intent call − 214 in 2024 vs. 270 in 2023
False alarms and false calls − 440 in 2024 vs. 440 in 2023
Severe weather and natural disaster − three in 2024 vs. none in 2023
Special incident type − 15 in 2024 vs. 11 in 2023
For Morgan, there are many factors that can cause call numbers to fluctuate. He said the dip between this year and last year is partly caused by an increased focus by his department to better work with local condominiums, as well as making sure they have up-to-date fire alarm systems.
“That’s turned our call volume down some because we’ve got compliance through condo owner associations, (which has led) to a better working relationship on the Beach,” Morgan said. “A lot of it is just kind of how it works. We’ve had less fires this year … and some of it is just luck.”
