FLORENCE, SC (WBTW) – For the past two years News13 has kept you in the loop with how Florence County spends the money it gets from the second penny sales tax.
On Thursday, Florence County Council gave the thumbs up to start construction on two new fire stations.
One of them is a new main station for the Howe Springs Fire Department.
The empty 13-acre lot along U.S. 52 near McLaughlin Road in Florence, will be the site of the over $2.8 million new main station for the Howe Springs Fire Department.
“The current building that we are in now is a fire station and our office space and our training area. There is no way we could meet the fire code to build living quarters in the building,” said Fire Chief Billy Dillon.
In March, News13 took look inside the main station on East Howe Springs Road in Florence.
“We are having some insulation issues and leaks. We just resealed the ceiling,” stated Dillon during our interview then.
“It’s [staircase] narrow in nature but it’s also steep. It doesn’t meet current regulation,” he explained.
The station was built in the early 1970’s and doesn’t currently meet fire code or even barely enough room for the trucks.
Also during the October floods there was nowhere for the firefighters to sleep.
“They were sleeping in the seat of trucks, they were lying on couches or sitting up in chairs trying to get a night sleep,” Dillon mentioned.
The new station is set to provide all the necessary components.
Behind the facility there will be a training center and enough space inside the station to house community meetings.
“This project of building this fire station for Howe Springs has been a dream,” said Dillon.
Work will also begin on the new Hannah-Salem-Friendfield fire station.
The county’s goal is to lessen response time and improve ISO ratings in those areas.
The Howe Springs Fire Department expects to be moved in into the new station this time next year.
