Horry County Fire Rescue officially opens 2 new stations

HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WBTW) — Horry County Fire Rescue held a ribbon cutting Tuesday to officially open two new fire stations in the Longs and Conway areas.

Station 12 is located at 2291 E. Highway 31, while station 14 is located at 4886 Highway 905.

Instead of a traditonal ribbon cutting, there was a ceremonial “uncoupling of the hoses” at both facilities.

Members of the Horry County Council, county administrative leaders and Horry County Fire Rescue officials spoke at the ceremony.

“We are keeping up with the growth by making this a safe place for our citizens, our visitors and our county employees, and this is a testament to that dedication,” Horry County Council Chairman Johnny Gardner said.

The county broke ground on both of the stations back in November 2022. Chief Joey Tanner said he wants the community to feel safe.

“It’s important for the community to have a place they can call their own safety, safe haven, if you will,” Tanner said. “Their fire station is here. Their crews are here. They’ll get to know the firefighters in the station every day, as well as the firefighters will know the community.”

Since the start of 2024, HCFR has received more than 18,000 calls.

Station 12 was built in response to the growth in the Longs area, and station 14 replaces a previous fire station that burned down years ago.

Ricky Cox was one of the first volunteers at the station that burned down. He said being without it for so many years was hard for the community.

“It was hard to believe that a fire station actually burned,” Cox said. “It made a change in this community by that station being gone.”

Both stations 12 and 14 are fully staffed. Tanner says they added stations in the areas that were predominantly volunteer, and now have a combination of both volunteers and career staff.

“The most important ones we have to thank today is our citizens,” he said. “You’re the ones who make this happen. We do this for you because you deserve the top quality service that we can provide to you 24 hours a day.”

A third fire station, station 4, is expected to open next month and will be located in the Forestbrook area.

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Gracie is a multimedia journalist at News 13 and is from Cleveland, Ohio. Gracie joined the team in June 2023 after graduating from the University of Alabama in May. Follow Gracie on Facebook , Instagram and X, formerly Twitter, & read more of her work here .

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