19-02-2025
North Myrtle Beach, Conway fire departments visit Capitol Hill
NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — The North Myrtle Beach and Conway fire departments traveled to Capitol Hill last week for the Congressional Fire Service Institute's annual Fire Service Day.
North Myrtle Beach Deputy Fire Chief John Galganski says the annual event allows fire departments across the country to build stronger relationships with state legislators, helping enforce needs both locally and across the country.
'It's critically important that our elected officials are aware of our needs and how to support them and how they can support us,' Galganski said.
On the first day of their two-day trip to Washington, D.C., Galganski said the departments toured Capitol Hill and talked to elected officials about current issues impacting fire service. The second day included class trainings to learn upcoming federal initiatives and how to navigate those systems.
'We talked about the need to reauthorize the FirstNet network,' Galganski said. 'That's important for us to have a secondary means of communication during a mass emergency. We talked about reauthorizing and supporting the AFG grants and the SAFER grants. We talked about tax incentives for sprinklers and codes and high rise sprinklers.'
Galganski said having the event earlier in the year puts their departments ahead of the curve when talking to elected officials about current concerns they face.
As far as the country's next steps moving forward when it comes to natural disasters like the wildfires in California and the hurricanes in North Carolina, Galganski said ensuring regulations are in place will help continue to keep citizens safe.
'We need to, probably, reinforce our existing codes and make sure that we're not duplicating situations where we have mass destruction,' he said. 'So, research building materials that are noncombustible, research building, building methodologies that resist hurricanes or infrastructure that's a little bit more resistant to these types of emergencies.'
News13 also reached out to the Conway Fire Department to hear about their experience on Capitol Hill, but they were not available for an interview.
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Gabby Jonas joined the News13 team as a multimedia journalist in April 2024. She is from Columbus, Ohio, and graduated from Kent State University in May 2023. Follow Gabby on X, formerly Twitter, Facebook or Instagram, and read more of her work here.
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