SURFSIDE BEACH, SC (WMBF) – The Surfside Beach City Council voted Tuesday to keep the fire department in-house, choosing not to contract with Horry County Fire Rescue.

“We kind of matched whatever the county was going to give us basically in terms of staffing,” Surfside Beach Fire Chief David Nelson said.

Several months ago, city leaders debated the idea after finding a $2 million budget shortfall due to a lack of staff and the need to acquire new or improved equipment.

Nelson said after filling several vacancies, confidence grew in the fire department.

“The city and the city council were very supportive of this project,” Nelson said.

In the future, three people would operate the device and an additional person would operate the antenna.

“This will help us with our ISO and PPC classification,” Nelson said.

The positive changes have brought relief to many residents.

“We pay taxes to care for and support our fire department. I think we should keep it in-house,” Lauren LaMora said.

Paul Richardson has lived in Surfside Beach for 25 years and said he hasn’t needed emergency services, but was happy to hear they would remain.

“I’m just glad to see them staying here, we’ve never had to call them but it’s nice to know they’re nearby,” he said.

The department has also increased the number of volunteers.

“Our volunteers have increased. We have gone from five indoor firefighter volunteers to nine now. We also have four others in class,” Nelson said.

We are told no further discussions on contract opportunities regarding the fire department will take place.

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