The West Columbia Fire Department is possibly the oldest department in the City. The department was first formed around the turn of the 20th century. According to Henry Anderson, Fire Chief from 1966 to 1975 and a volunteer for many years before becoming chief, the first fire station was located at the intersection of Norfolk Street and a back alley behind Mr. Red Peake’s house. The station consisted of a human-pulled hand pump. Fire equipment was moved to new quarters in 1908 when the City built a new building in the 400 block of Center Street that also housed city hall. The police department and jail were later located in a building next door.

As with most small towns during this era, all firefighters were volunteers. They were alerted to a fire by sirens mounted on buildings or utility poles throughout the City. When the sirens sounded, the men would leave their homes or jobs and rush to the fire station to get the truck. Often they would have to push the truck up a hill and let it roll back to start it before they could respond to a fire. Since the majority of the early residents worked at Mt. Vernon Mills on the Columbia side of the Congaree River, an alarm was mounted at the mill to alert workers.

In 1960, the City built a new complex that housed city hall, the police department and the fire department. At this time, volunteers still comprised the firefighting force. In 1964, City Council employed the first full time firefighters. Volunteer firefighters were still used to supplement the full time forces and the sirens were still used to alert volunteers and off-duty full time employees. The notification method eventually changed to a paging system operated by the fire department.

In 1979, the fire department moved into its current location on North 12th Street. The old fire station at Center Street was designed to hold four pieces of apparatus, but was packed with six. The new station was designed to hold all of the current equipment with room for growth. In 1980, the City moved from a combination volunteer and full-time employee department to a total career department with the hiring of six full-time personnel, bringing the staff to a total of 21 firefighters. Staffing for the fire department today consists of 24 people.

The current makeup of the department is as follows:

• Fire Chief
• 3 Captains
• Fire Training Officer
• 1 Fire Inspector
• 3 Senior Engineers
• 3 Engineer I
• 3 Firefighter III
• 9 Firefighter II

Shifts:

The Chief, Assistant Chief and the Fire Inspector work 40-hour weeks. The rest of the staff is split evenly into three shifts that work every third day. Tours of duty are 24 ¼ hours with the overlapping quarter hour being used for the exchange of information. Minimum staffing is six firefighters per day, which allows for annual leave, sick leave, and time away for training.

Coverage area:

Our department is responsible for the delivery of fire services for the City of West Columbia and for an area of Lexington County that extends from the city limits to I-26. All total, this area is approximately six square miles and about 15,000 people.

Services:

The services that fire departments now offer has changed considerably since the volunteer days of long ago. In the early days, all firefighters were expected to do was fight fires as they occurred. West Columbia did this and also operated a rescue squad, which responded to calls such as breathing difficulties and heart attacks. Firefighters also responded to calls for body recovery after someone had drowned. Now, firefighters must be better rounded in their abilities. EMS calls represent approximately 45 to 50 percent of the department’s responses. First responder service is offered to everyone in our coverage area. This service serves to assist the ambulance service when needed and offers our citizens a quick response in case of a medical need. To meet this need, all suppression personnel are required to complete a first responder course. Several firefighters have completed EMT training.

Equipment:

The equipment that firefighters use to deliver these services also has changed and increased over the years as technology improved and more sophisticated equipment was added. The fire truck that older city residents remember as the City’s first was a 1925 REO. Equipment on that truck was minimal at best, consisting mostly of hose, a pump, ladders and coats and helmets for the men to wear. It even had an open cab that exposed the driver and passenger to the elements of the weather. While trucks purchased during the 1950s had enclosed cabs, they did not have heaters. Even in the 1960s, the trucks required the firefighters to ride on the rear step, which was dangerous. Trucks today have ladders, breathing apparatus, a variety of hose sizes, automatic transmissions, and enclosed cabs that protect all occupants from weather conditions. Heat and air conditioning helps firefighters to recover more quickly from fires, and prepares them for the next fire. Currently the City has four engines, one ladder truck, one support unit, one brush truck, one pickup, and three administrative vehicles. The ladder truck that we acquired is a story in itself. A fire department in New Jersey had purchased a new ladder truck. After receiving the new truck, they wanted to donate their 1972 model to a department that had a need for a ladder truck. A relative of a captain with the Columbia Fire Department is a member of the New Jersey department, as was the CFD captain before coming to Columbia. The captain in Columbia advised his relative in New Jersey of West Columbia’s need. We wrote a letter to the department in New Jersey, which accepted our request for their old ladder truck. We flew two staff members to New Jersey, paid the department one dollar for the truck then drove it home. While the truck is not a new unit, it meets our current need and will continue to do so until funds are available to purchase a new one.

Fire Prevention:

A lot of the fire department’s efforts in recent years have been geared to educating the public about fire prevention. We do this through a variety of ways. Speaking to civic groups, church groups and during children’s activities has been successful in reducing the number of serious fires in West Columbia. Our puppet show has been well received and presents the fire safety messages in a manner that folks of all ages enjoy. We also have a smoke detector program where we place smoke detectors at no charge in the homes of people that otherwise would not be able to afford them. This program is funded through the sale of the blue address signs that people purchase for home identification and are visible throughout the City.