Seattle Fire Department Radio

This feed scans Fire, Rescue, and EMS operations for the Seattle Fire Department.
This feed does not scan the dispatch channel. All active incidents are posted online.

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT

The Seattle Fire Department has announced that it will remove most radio channels from being publicly listened to. See press release

This feed currently scans Seattle Fire Department channels 1, 2, 3 (fire/rescue responses), 5 (units not assigned to a call, contacting dispatch), 6, 7 (EMS responses), 11, 12, 13 (command channels for fire/rescue channels 1-3), and 14, 15, 16 (emergency/mayday). This feed deliberately does not scan automated dispatch announcements on Channel 4, since dispatch information is repeated on the tactical channel (1, 2, 3, 6, 7) when units respond and is also available online at the real-time links below.

In June 2025, the Seattle Fire Department announced that in early 2026 the department is going to encrypt ALL radio channels except for channels 4 (automated dispatch voice) and 5 (units not assigned to a call, contacting dispatch). SFD claims that this will improve security and privacy for the Fire Department.

The ability to listen to fire tactical operations has existed for decades and does not pose any realistic security concern as the department claims. With this announced change, specific emergency call locations at the time of dispatch will still be accessible on channel 4 and on the SFD real-time dispatch webpage. In most cases, sensitive information like door codes is conveyed over secure systems like in-vehicle data terminals rather than radio. Per Broadcastify's terms of service, this feed has never scanned Medic One Medcom radio channels that are used to describe patients' specific conditions.

In comparison, while the Seattle Police Department (dispatched by the "CARE Department") will also start encrypting some additional specific tactical channels, they are not encrypting the North/South/East/West dispatch & response channels and Northwest/Southwest reserve dispatch & response channels. This means that police operations to remain largely transparent. The Seattle Fire Department is taking advantage of their use of separate channels for dispatch and response (rather than combined channels like SPD uses) to intentionally limit public access to important real-time response information.

Once this encryption goes into effect, this feed will switch to ONLY scan channels 4 and 5, since all other channels will no longer be accessible. This will drastically obfuscate transparency into the fire department and will reduce the accountability of responders.

Please support public access to these important radio feeds and consider reaching out to the Seattle Fire Department and the City of Seattle to oppose this proposed restriction. While we understand that the public does not necessarily need to hear specific call information for medical responses on channels 6 & 7, we request that the fire department reconsider this proposal and decide to not encrypt the fire/rescue tactical channels 1, 2, & 3 and emergency channels 14, 15, & 16.

VIEW ALL ACTIVE SEATTLE FIRE DEPARTMENT INCIDENTS HERE: REAL-TIME 911 or PULSEPOINT

Long periods of silence are normal. This feed is delayed from real-time by approximately 30 seconds.

System: Puget Sound Emergency Radio Network (PSERN) (Project 25 Phase II)
Site: West King County (800 MHz simulcast)
Receiving Equipment: Uniden BCD996P2 scanner connected via audio & data to a Windows server running ProScan

The Seattle Fire Department is dispatched by the SFD Fire Alarm Center (FAC). The primary 9-1-1 emergency communications center is the Seattle Community Assisted Response & Engagement (CARE) 9-1-1 communications center. CARE dispatches law enforcement incidents for the Seattle Police Department and transfers 9-1-1 calls to the FAC for fire, rescue, and medical incidents.

RADIO CHANNELS:

Note: For privacy, some talkgroups including ambulance-to-hospital channels (Medcom) are intentionally omitted from this radio feed.

Seattle Fire Department, Zone 1 radio channels scanned on this feed:

Seattle Fire Department common terminology:

Typical Dispatch Order of Events ("the chute"): (will soon be encrypted and blocked)

1. Computer-aided dispatch on Channel 4 (not scanned on this feed), along with fire station alert and digital pager alert.
   [12:15 hours: Fire response on channel 2. Engine 18, 9, Ladder 8, Battalion 4. 5427 Russell Avenue Northwest. Cross of Northwest Market Street and 20 Avenue Northwest.]
2. When the first-due unit is responding, the dispatcher addresses the primary first-due unit on the response channel
   [Engine 18: Fire response. 5427 Russell Avenue Northwest.]
3. The first-due unit acknowledges that they're responding and repeats the address.
   [Engine 18, 5427 Russell Avenue Northwest.]
4. The dispatcher addresses the first-due units of other unit types. The units acknowledge that they're responding.
   [Ladder 8.], [Ladder 8 OK.], [Battalion 4.], [Battalion 4 OK.]
5. The dispatcher describes the incident in greater detail (this is known as "the chute").
   [This is for a report of smoke inside the Hi-Life restaurant, floor 1. Building alarm indicates smoke in room 112.]
6. Upon arrival, the first-in unit describes conditions, actions, and needs.
   [Engine 18 on-scene. Nothing visible; investigating. Evacuation in progress. Engine 18 establishing Russell Command.]
7. The dispatcher acknowledges the update.
   [OK Engine 18. Nothing visible, evacuation in progress. Engine 18 is Russell Command.]

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