BRUNSWICK COUNTY — A letter was sent to the Brunswick County Fire Marshal preventing developers from using water from tankers as a substitute to installing water sources that would help with emergency safety needs. The letter was sent as the county remains in a stage three water conservation alert for being at 90% capacity for five consecutive days.
The Brunswick County Fire Chiefs’ Association, a nonprofit representing municipal fire leaders and a subsect of the state organization, submitted the letter to Brunswick County Fire Marshal Andrew Thompson on July 16. The association objects to the use of the Tanker Task Force — formed from municipal fire departments which each own a water tanker to assist in firefighting if and when an area fire cannot be serviced by its existing water pressure.
“We’re running at almost max capacity [of water],” Calabash Fire Chief and association vice president Keith McGee said. “And that creates situations where we’ve got water tanks that are being depleted beginning at 4 a.m.” This, he explained, was due to the water shortage in the county.
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At least three tankers were used in the recent Quarry Road wildfire, according to a spokesperson from the Shallotte Point Fire Station. However, the fire was combatted in conjunction with the North Carolina Forest Service’s aerial equipment as well.
In total, there are 11 tankers in Brunswick County and four are required for a task force response. The task force is called in incidents of structure or forest fires in regions of the county without the water capacity to fight them; they’re also called for areas with no water connection.
McGee said most of the subdivisions near the Calabash fire district would require the Tanker Task Force to combat a fire emergency because they were approved with lower water pressure than required by state law, due to reliance on local tankers. While the county explained the association rarely provides comments for the technical review committee process, which is where water pressure needs are decided, the fire marshal does. Developers can implement their own water tanks or fire safety systems, but McGee said most have relied on the task force to provide that service.
The letter he signed off on to go to the fire marshal states:
“This position is intended to encourage development practices that permanently address fire protection needs through sound building design, code-compliant fire protection features, and the construction of adequate public water infrastructure where public water systems are being expanded. Emergency operational resources should not be relied upon as a substitute for permanent infrastructure improvements.”
The association is not an authority figure in the county or development process, but is able to provide comments during the technical review committee process and assigns two positions on the county fire oversight committee. The association is, however, able to dictate when and how the tankers are used because it owns them.
As development continues to come to Brunswick County and the population grows, McGee and and association president Charles Drew — also the Southport fire chief — said reliance on tankers has become a problem because each department has become more inundated with emergency calls and cannot cover the tracks of developments outside their district.
“Responsible growth means ensuring that fire stations, staffing, infrastructure and emergency resources keep pace with development so that we can continue to provide the level of protection our citizens expect and deserve,” Drew said at the July 9 aldermen meeting.
The letter would effectively prevent developments reviewed and proposed after July 16 from using the task force as a substitute for a complete fire safety system, which would include developers installing their own tank. It explains 19 member departments, exclusive of Leland, Sunny Point and Shallotte, will not sign off on using their water tenders for new developments.
The tanks transport large volumes of water to assist in fire situations, acting as a supplement to existing water infrastructure like fire hydrants. The tankers help meet the state fire flow standard of between 1,000 to 3,000 gallons a minute for areas without fire hydrants or with ones that cannot produce the correct amount of water. Tankers are used primarily in rural areas with little water flow, according to officials.
Though Deputy County Manager Niel Brooks explained they’re not used often, McGee said it was about the potentiality of an emergency. He said municipal fire departments are assuming risk for buildings and neighborhoods not in their jurisdictions.
According to Drew, the letter has been a conversation in the county association for two months and was most recently discussed at the Fire Chiefs’ Association’s July 8 meeting, wherein the letter’s message was decided upon.
McGee explained the problem with calling for the Tanker Task Force was some fire departments, especially in rural areas, did not have a robust staff. He said most departments in the county only have enough staff on duty to run one unit, or one fire vehicle, at a time. So when developments and subdivisions need a Tanker Task Force to fill in a gap that could have been avoided, stations would either be unmanned or manned by less-experienced volunteers as career firefighters operate the tanker trucks.
“If we agree to that, we just assume risk,” McGee said. “And we’re not willing to do that anymore.”
Drew added another part of the issue was the stress to the county’s system. Many, including commissioners, have pointed out the county’s infrastructure is not equipped to handle the level of development it’s bringing in. Currently, there are more than 43,000 units in the pipeline, according to previous Port City Daily reporting.
Drew said this puts fire departments under more stress, particularly when investments are not matched for public safety, whether for equipment or more crews.
In Southport, for example, Drew said the fire department was at maximum call volume, which, as of the most recent data, is 1,250 fire calls and 2,120 EMS calls in 2025.
“Our call volume is only going up every year,” McGee echoed.
Drew also cited the recently approved Southport Meadows expansion at the July 13 Brunswick County Planning Board meeting as the latest example of his concerns. He noted with increased development, needs inevitably escalate.
Drew assured necessary water volume through the county system is available currently for the current homes and properties in the district, primarily due to conservation efforts. For most commercial uses, 1,500 gallons a minute are required to douse a fire, while larger commercial buildings necessitate 3,000 gallons a minute. Single-family homes typically only need 1,000 gallons per minute.
State code also says fire flow is, ultimately, determined by the size of the building and provides a table and calculation.
No current developments under review will be impacted by the letter, county spokesperson Meagan Kascsak said.
According to Deputy County Manager Brooks, though, moving forward, developers in the county will need to build their own water tower, a tank or a sprinkler system.
Port City Daily reached out to the Brunswick County Homebuilder’s Association to inquire about how developers may be affected and also if it could impact homeowners in the long run, if a developer be required to implement its own fire safety measures. A response was not received by press.
Brooks noted the problem in the past has been developers altering plans, which then changes how much water pressure is needed under state code.
“Why this is coming up is because we’ve seen on these preliminary plans, a lot of the fire stuff that was approved was all based on residential,” Brooks explained. “Well, then once they get to the final plan, they put in a clubhouse for their pool for the neighborhood. That’s a commercial use.”
Oftentimes, though, fire safety professionals have already signed off on a project based on the residential plans, before the commercial building was added. A commercial building requires higher water flow than residential units, but because the developers were approved for water pressure standards related to residential and not commercial, tankers provide the rest of the water in the event of an emergency.
The letter informs the fire marshal this option is now eliminated for developers to fall back on.
“The Tanker Task Force — we’ve outgrown that as a county,” McGee said. “The county needs to do something about the water in this county. That’s just what it is.”
The county is currently in conversation and discussing a request-for-proposals for a master plan study on the county’s water utilities system.
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