Longs community to have new state of the art fire station soon

By Ruben Lowman

As a result of more people moving into the area from elsewhere, along with the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, first responders in Horry County have seen a significant uptick in call volumes.

In order to effectively serve the local community and deal with the growth in the Longs area, Horry County Fire Rescue is in the middle of building a new state of the art fire station that will replace the old Station 13, which was becoming a bit outdated and having difficulties coping with growing demand for services. 

“It is a two bay, volunteer-based station, and now we’re moving behind it into this really nice, larger volunteer and career-based station,” HCFR spokesperson Tony Casey said.

Officials said the new facility will be massive, roughly 8,000 square feet and once completed, will be the only three bay, drive through fire station in the entire county.

Officials said this will make the fire station and the firefighters more efficient in the way they are able to respond and align their resources. 

The construction of the facility is at its halfway point, officials said, and they estimate the final cost of the facility to be approximately $2.3 million.

Officials made a point to note that the upgrades to the area’s facilities are vitally important to effectively keep up with the upsurge in growth and development that is occurring in many parts of the county, particularly in the Longs community. They noted that the addition of full-time career staffing is an essential component of ensuring the community has all the protection it needs going forward. 

“We’re going to be able to move people around and continue to grow with our staffing levels,” Casey said. “Every time we hire new people, it’s more people than we’ve ever had before working here.”

Residents of the Longs community have welcomed the new fire station and resources to the area, and several who spoke to The Times felt it was a good move for the county’s first responders to be able to more effectively serve their community. 

Horry County Fire Rescue officials said Thursday that they expect to open the new station in the second quarter of next year.