Fire engines don’t roam the streets on constant lookout for emergencies — they’re dispatched from a firehouse when citizens call in to report a situation. While emergency dispatchers don’t directly affect residents themselves, the trained crew working the phone system is a critical, if sometimes overlooked, part of the emergency response team.
At the Jan. 20 Long Beach City Council meeting, board members unanimously agreed to authorize City Manager Daniel Creighton to renew the Long Beach Fire Department’s contract with the Lawrence/Cedarhurst Fire Department. This allows the LBFD to continue providing fire, ambulance, and emergency dispatch services for the nearby community.
During the meeting, Creighton explained, “This brings income to the city and helps to offset the costs for equipment and salaries for dispatchers, while not degrading our capacity to field emergency calls.”
Under the terms of the five-year arrangement, the LBFD will receive $27,000 per year in quarterly payments, increasing 3 percent each year until reaching just over $30,000 in 2030. Under the terms of the department’s previous contract, the annual increase was limited to 1 percent. Long Beach Fire Commissioner Joseph Miller says the LBFD has been providing the paid service for roughly 20 years and the contract renewal includes a modest rate increase to reflect comparable services.
Miller clarified that Nassau County Fire Communications, aka Firecom, handles emergency dispatching for many fire departments throughout the county, but it’s not uncommon for some departments to outsource the service and utilize the dispatch system of other areas. The Long Beach Fire Department currently provides emergency call management for Atlantic Beach, Inwood, Lawrence/Cedarhurst, and Woodmere, in addition to the immediate Long Beach area — Lawrence/Cedarhurst was one of the first departments taken on board when the LBFD began offering the service to outside departments.
The multiple service areas require no additional LBFD personnel — the current trained staff handles all calls — and the additional workload does not strain department resources. In 2025, the LBFD dispatched a total of nearly 10,000 alarm calls for Long Beach and the surrounding areas. The department handles 1,200 to 2,000 calls per year for the Lawrence/Cedarhurst Fire Department.
Representatives from LCFD could not be reached for comment, but the decades-long cooperation between Lawrence/Cedarhurst and Long Beach is a strong testament to the professionalism and efficiency found in their joint effort maintaining public safety with fast emergency response.
