Myrtle Beach Fire Department plans new station to replace aging facility

MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WMBF) - The Myrtle Beach Fire Department is releasing plans for another station to be constructed in the near future, not long after celebrating the completion of Fire Station 3.

When Fire Station One was newly built, episode 1 of Star Wars had just recently come out, and Myrtle Beach had a population of just about 25,000. Officials say that’s why a new station is needed.

“So you run about a third of the calls for the department out of Station One,” said Capt. Jonathan Evans, Myrtle Beach Fire Department.

Every year, the Myrtle Beach Fire Department receives upwards of 16,000 calls. With Fire Station One being the primary location calls go to, officials say the old station can’t handle it much longer.

“Station one, it’s just one of those places that’s meant for the time it was built, and maybe a little bit of growth, but I just don’t think we expected as much growth as we’ve seen here in Myrtle Beach,” said Evans.

The new Fire Station One will be twice the size of the recently opened Fire Station Three and will be located on Robert Grissom Parkway between Mercantile Place and Executive Avenue.

Construction is expected to start in the summer of next year.

Evans said the new station will allow firefighters to be more efficient with their work to better serve residents.

“With this new station, it’ll have a split bay kind of thing, so that we don’t have to run across six bays to get to the farthest truck. Either you go out this way or this way, but it’s still the same distance, having the better doors, the bifold doors that open a little bit quicker, just like we have at station 3. All of those things I think are gonna benefit and being in a new location, that’s a little more central to everything where we typically see our call line.”

Amenities to allow for faster response times are the key aspect, and why residents believe a new station is a great idea.

“Oh, it means a lot, I mean response times as far as first responders could be a matter of life and death or diffuse a dangerous situation,” said Myrtle Beach resident Joel Richardson.

Evans said the new station will also house the Emergency Operations Center.

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