South Carolina firefighters attend risk reduction summit in Myrtle Beach

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - Members of 40 different fire departments from all over South Carolina gathered in Myrtle Beach on Thursday for a Fire and Community Risk Reduction Summit.

“A lot of times we don’t get that opportunity, and we get to do it on a good day,” said Mark Nugent, Horry County Fire Rescue Assistant Chief. “Usually we’re in a fire, usually we’re in an emergency-- a medical emergency, a car crash-- a bad day. So we’re trying to find opportunities to meet people on a good day.”

But, it’s not just about networking-- it’s about education.

Regional director of the National Fire Prevention Association, Kelly Ransdell, tells WMBF News this is important now more than ever.

Since COVID hit, she said her organization has seen a rise in house fire deaths.

“People have changed a lot of their activities--working in office settings to a remote environment, we know a lot more people are cooking a lot more at home, and we also know that substance use has increased across all different age groups,” said Ransdell.

Mark Nugent, assistant chief at Horry County Fire Rescue said he has also noticed an uptick in Horry County.

“We average, in Horry County, about four or five fatalities from house fires every year,” said Nugent. “We unfortunately had two within two or three days just in the last month.”

Nugent said although he has decades of experience, there is always something new to learn.

Ransdell said her organization met its goal of bringing education to people of all different departments and experience levels.

“We had a great representation though of volunteer and paid fire service, which is really what we’re aiming at, is small communities with volunteers, large communities with paid personnel and really giving them resources that they can take back to address the fire problems we’re seeing,” said Ransdell.

First responders said everyone should practice their fire escape plans twice a year and make sure their smoke alarms are up to date.

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