TYBEE ISLAND, Ga. (WSAV) - It is nearly three months out to 2025 Orange Crush but preps are already underway.
New at the helm is Tybee Island's Fire Chief Justin McMillian.
"I've just got here but from what I've heard, a couple of years ago it got bad, and they had a lot of problems but last year. They fixed a lot of stuff, and it went a lot smoother last year," said Chief McMillian.
A lot of those fixtures included limiting traffic to a single land on Hwy. 80 in addition to more police, parking barriers, and fencing than in past years.
The city considerers Orange Crush 2024 a success with attendance slashed in half from 2023.
McMillian says his plan for 2025 is to work off that.
"I'm just going to come in and get with the city and police chief and do what they did last year to help alleviate any problems they might run into," said McMillian.
He told News 3 his main goal is getting the fire department fully staffed by March, and to keep that staffing year round.
"When you're staffing a fire department, especially if it's anywhere near a tourist destination, it's hard for these municipalities to staff year round for the big events."
McMillian also told News 3 he is aware of Tybee residents' main concerns with Orange Crush.
"It's not an unknown; you know its coming. You know there's 30-thousand people coming to the island. Traffic's gonna be a beast. It's going to be hard to get on and off the island. Just keep that in mind. The city is obviously going to help as much as we possibly can to not have people locked here."
Orange Crush 2025 is slated for Friday, Apr. 18, with Monday, Apr. 21 being dedicated to clean-up.