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The Surfside Beach town council voted Tuesday, Sept. 10, to name the town鈥檚 fire station for Tom Andersen, an assistant fire chief who died from a heart attack while fighting a fire in 2002.

The town's fire chief David Nelson told the council Tuesday that he preferred establishing a small memorial park with a marker to honor all first responders.

鈥淚f we name it after one person, where do we go from here? If you do it for one, what about the next one,鈥� Nelson said.

Councilmember Chris Stamey said the previous council had agreed to name the station after Andersen but the move was delayed because of a financial need to repair a pumper truck.

鈥淚鈥檓 still in favor of naming the building after Tom Andersen,鈥� Stamey said. 鈥淭here won鈥檛 be a next 'first.'"

Councilmember William Kinken agreed with Stamey saying, 鈥渋t鈥檚 been 22 years since Andersen鈥檚 death and we鈥檝e only had one first responder death.鈥�

Council members Shawn Fallon and Harry Kohlmann pointed out the number of first responders who died during 9/11 and said each person is just as important as the next.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not talking about the Manhattan police department,鈥� said Councilmember Skip Walls. 鈥淚 support renaming the building. His family has waited long enough.鈥�

Former assistant fire chief Larry Carter originally spearheaded the move to rename the fire station. He told the council Tuesday night that he had presented a plan to put Andersen鈥檚 name on the building facing Highway 17 and on a sign on the Poplar Drive side of the building.

鈥淥ther parks and buildings in town have been named after people from town,鈥� Carter said. 鈥淎ssistant Chief Tom Andersen鈥檚 death is the only one in the 60 years of the town. He was a training director for the town and for other departments across the state.鈥�

Mayor Robert Krouse said he originally favored establishing a memorial park but changed his mind when it was pointed out that other town properties have been named for individuals.

The council voted 6-1 to rename the fire station and send out proposals to get the cost for placing Andersen鈥檚 name on the building. Fallon voted against the measure.