Horry County Fire Rescue to replace one-third of fleet

Aug. 28--CONWAY -- Horry County Fire/Rescue is gearing up for nearly $8 million in new pumpers, ladder trucks and tankers to not only update its aging fleet but to keep insurance rates down for its residents.

The department contracted with Kovatch Mobile Equipment Corp., of Pennsylvania and Safe Industries, of Piedmont, S.C., to obtain $7.7 million in new fire trucks and equipment. The money was collected through a vote County Council took in 2013 to dedicate 3.5 mills to fire safety. The 3.5 mills equals $14 for every $100,000 of assessed value of a person's property in unincorporated Horry County.

Fire Chief Fred Crosby said the county's next Insurance Services Office, or ISO, evaluation is in July, which is perfect timing for acquiring the new trucks.

"We have 11 pumpers that are over 20 years old," Crosby said. "We're talking about buying replacements for those and we're talking about buying ladder trucks, which are all over 16 years old, which is a problem for meeting national standards. There are four of those.

"The others are tankers that will improve our water availability in rural areas, because that's a big number in your ISO for that."

ISO ratings come from a formula used by insurance adjusters who consider things like proximity to water access and fire stations, as well as age of fire equipment, when determining the cost of homeowner's insurance.

In 2013, County Council voted to approve a 3.5 millage property tax increase to fund fire rescue to the tune of $3.5 million more annually.

County Administrator Chris Eldridge said the funding comes from two years worth of collection.

Council Chairman Mark Lazarus said although it "took a little time to put this all together," he commended the staff for getting it straight before July 2015.

"If we don't have these things in place dictated by the ISO at that time, everybody's insurance is going to raise," Lazarus said. "Then we hit our people twice. We hit them with a raise in insurance and we hit them with a raise in millage."

Councilman Paul Prince said he thinks the department is buying too much at one time.

"I don't approve of buying all that equipment all at one time," Paul Prince said. "I think that it should have been staged in different sections."

Crosby said this first round of purchases is part of an 18-year plan where the county will replace one-third of its fleet every six years.

"Even though that's a huge number, you have to remember we have 43 stations," Crosby said. "That's one-third of our fleet. It's not like we're replacing the whole fleet at once. We're not spending all the money available."

Contact JASON M. RODRIGUEZ at 626-0301 or on Twitter @TSN_JRodriguez.

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