Fire Service Secures Critical Legislative Victories

August 13, 2026

The South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association, representing 17,500 volunteer and career firefighters, has spent this legislative session fulfilling our duty of advocating for the South Carolina fire service.

Through a long and difficult legislative and budget process, we have worked directly with members of the South Carolina House of Representatives and Senate to make sure the priorities of our firefighters, departments, and communities were heard at the State House.

And lawmakers responded.

The South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association wants to recognize state legislators and their staff for listening to the needs of the South Carolina fire service and helping move these budgetary priorities forward.

• SC FAST — $287,029 additional recurring monies

The South Carolina Firefighter Assistance and Support Team (SC FAST) is an important part of the mental health support network available to our firefighters. We’ve advocated for increased support for SC FAST because we know what our members experience.

Firefighters routinely see what most people will hopefully never have to see. We cannot ask them to carry those experiences for a lifetime and then fail to provide resources when they need help. Taking care of firefighters means taking care of the whole firefighter.

And we thank the General Assembly for investing in them.

• Firefighter cancer — $1,181,400 additional recurring monies

Cancer continues to take an enormous toll on our profession, and the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association has worked for years to improve protections for firefighters diagnosed with cancer because we have seen firsthand what happens after that diagnosis.

It affects careers, spouses and children, finances, and entire departments.

That's why increased funding for the Firefighter Cancer Benefit Plan matters, and we thank the lawmakers who have stood with us.

• Pal 800 — $4,200,000 in additional recurring monies, $13,400,000 non-recurring monies

Our Association also continues to advocate for state investment in Palmetto 800 because when a South Carolina firefighter enters a burning building, responds to a highway collision, searches for a missing child, battles a wildfire or answers the call during a hurricane, communications cannot be an afterthought.

Reliable public-safety communications are fundamental infrastructure. These funds increase the coverage area of the radio system and reduces user fees for fire departments.

The South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association has carried that message to the State House, and we thank legislators for hearing it and acting on it.

• House Bill 3163

House Bill 3163 represents a significant fire-service legislative victory. Now Act 132, this legislation strengthens workers' compensation protections for qualifying South Carolina firefighters suffering heart disease, stroke or respiratory disease associated with strenuous training and/or duty.

Firefighters willingly accept extraordinary risks in service to their communities. Their families live with those risks alongside them. South Carolina law now better recognizes that sacrifice.

Thank you.

Advocacy cannot consist only of asking for more. When lawmakers listen to our members, work with our Association and stand behind South Carolina's fire service, they deserve to hear from us.

Today, on behalf of the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association and the 17,500 firefighters we serve, our message is simple: Thank you.

Thank you for supporting SC FAST, firefighters battling cancer, and for investing in Palmetto 800. Thank you for supporting stronger protections for firefighters through House Bill 3163.

Thank you for listening when South Carolina's fire service speaks.

There is more work ahead, including continued work toward a comprehensive approach to firefighter cancer prevention, screenings, early detection and care. There will always be another legislative session and another challenge. When that challenge comes, your South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association will do what it has always done – collaborate for long term solutions to protect South Carolina’s firefighters.