South Walton Fire District reached a historic milestone on April 19, 2025 by placing its new Engine 6 into service at the Inlet Beach Fire Station.

This additional engine was a multi-year project in the making and translates to improved emergency medical response and fire suppression capabilities for the South Walton community.

This is the first time the District has put an additional fire engine into service since the early 2000s. The strategic decision to make this investment comes from increased residential development and call volume.

“Our primary goal with the staffing of this new engine is to improve our response times within the eastern portion of South Walton,” said SWFD Fire Chief Ryan Crawford. “Prior to this addition, the next available firefighters were traveling from WaterColor to the Inlet Beach area in the event of multiple 911 calls. Engine 6 now fills that gap for our taxpayers and brings at least three additional personnel to any scene.”

The scope of work to design, order, equip, and staff a new fire engine involves several years’ worth of budgeting and planning, however, the pay-off is significant for the community.

While Engine 6 was under construction, SWFD set out to hire nine additional dual-certified firefighters, meaning each firefighter is either a Firefighter/EMT or Firefighter/Paramedic. This staffing allows Engine 6 to carry at least three firefighters per shift who are capable of handling fire-based emergencies, as well as providing Advanced Life Support-level care.

“We respond to all hazards, but our call volume is primarily medical based with the busiest time of year being in the summer,” Crawford said. “It’s imperative to us that our frontline apparatus are ALS-capable and staffed with at least one Firefighter/Paramedic who can perform medical skills such as airway management and administering an IV and medications, as well as advanced cardiac interventions.”

Adding another fire engine also resulted in promotional opportunities for existing SWFD firefighters to become “company officers” and lead the engine through its first days responding to calls.

In the future, SWFD is planning to build its sixth fire station near Serenoa Road, which is situated halfway between the existing Fire Stations 1 and 2. Once the sixth station is built, Engine 6 and its staffing will be relocated to that new station and respond to calls from that location in order to best fillresponse gaps.

The District wants to thank its Board of Fire Commissioners and the South Walton community for the continued support, which allows additional apparatus and staffing enhancements to be possible.