LEXINGTON, S.C. — Lexington County Fire Services welcomed 18 new bundles of joy into their family in 2019.
Firefighters came together to start 2020 on a heartwarming note and celebrate their 18 new babies together.
Fire Chief Mark Davis with Lexington County Fire Services says this is something that doesn't happen too often.
"We had quite a few. We have 270 career people plus another 40 to 50 volunteers. It was a pretty high number but we're also a young department," explained Chief Davis.
Casey Strock, an engineer with Lexington County Fire Services, welcomed his second child in 2019.
"Last year was a bit interesting, I was grateful to have two blessed babies. A little bit of losing sleep at night at work and at home but it's definitely worth it," said Strock.
Firefighters have to make a lot of sacrifices because of their schedules. There's a lot of time they are away from home because they're helping protect and serve in the community.
"I think it's very important that we thank the moms, the wives out there, the significant others, who are a lot of the time raising these kids from 24 to 48 hours while the firefighters, both male and female, are out protecting the citizens of Lexington County," said Chief Davis.
Strock says it means a lot to be a father.
"I think it's one of the greatest gifts you can have getting to carry on that family name and getting to raise a child and do the best that you can with that child and hopefully they'll go on and do good things in that aspect too," said Strock.
Chris and Megan Hallman had their second child this year. Chris is a Captain with the fire service and Megan is a Deputy Chief of EMS.
"I think that's fantastic," said Megan. "It shows that we want to continue growing the family, not only at work but at home too. It's just an amazing thing you see all these young kids and seeing them prosper and starting their lives with all these families within the emergency services divisions."
With a lot of families having babies this past year, Chris say it gives them the chance to share stories and learn from each other.
"I have friends at work that have children right around the same age as ours so we swap stories and we laugh and there's a lot of comparisons to be made. I lean on them and they'll lean back on me. It's really cool to have that support," said Chris.
Fire Chief Davis wants to the thank the community and the families for allowing fighters to come to work every day to make sure Lexington County is taken care of.