Dorchester County opens new fire station in Sandridge community

DORCHESTER COUNTY, S.C. (WCBD) – A new 1,000-square-foot fire station is now serving residents in the Sandridge community of Dorchester County.

“I am excited, and I hope the entire community is excited to see you today because this is a fire station that we started working on about a year ago, and now it’s here,” said Dorchester County Councilwoman Harriet Holman.

The approximately $400,000 fire station will be manned by volunteers who will help respond to fires with the apparatus that will be stationed in the new building off Sandridge Road.

“When a fire comes, the most important thing is timeliness – getting there, and this station holds one fire truck, but also holds 1000 gallons of water. So, that’s going to make a difference,” said Holman.

“It’s been really nice out here, so we like the quiet. We like the peace,” said Mark Durham, who lives less than a mile down the road.

He’s excited about better fire coverage and getting a discount on his fire bill.

“The station is strategically put to complement the Grover fire station and the Dorchester fire station to kind of make all that contiguous so that the citizens in this area – about 127 residents – receive that ISO four,” said Dorchester County Fire Department Chief Tres Atkinson.

Chief Atkinson said residents that have a class 10 or nine, will cut their insurance premium nearly in half.

You can contact your insurance agent or the Dorchester County Fire Department to make sure you get that discount.

“The whole neighborhood is very excited about it. It’s great to have. It’s a little more of a security blanket for us. We’re just very, very grateful to Dorchester County for putting one out here so we can have that little extra comfort zone,” said Durham.

Dorchester county is also planning brand new fire departments in the Jedburg and Summers Corner areas.