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West Columbia Fire Department

(803) 791-4440

610 N. 12th Street
West Columbia, SC 29169

Message from the Chief

I am honored to serve and protect this community. The West Columbia Fire Department operates on three guiding principles.

“We Serve the Community”
“We Serve Each Other”
“We Train to Serve”

First and foremost, our mission is to serve and protect the community. Our firefighters are highly trained and dedicated to responding quickly and efficiently to all emergencies. Emergencies can happen anytime, and we are prepared to respond and provide the necessary assistance.

Secondly, we serve each other within the department. We are a team and support each other in our work and personal lives. We strive to create a positive work environment that encourages growth, learning, and collaboration.

Finally, ongoing training and education is the key to providing excellent service to our community. Our firefighters are required to complete regular training and attend educational courses to keep up-to-date with the latest techniques and technologies in the industry.

The West Columbia Fire Department is committed to serving and protecting our community with the utmost dedication and professionalism. We are proud to serve you and look forward to continuing to build a strong relationship with the community.

Sincerely,
Marquis Solomon
Fire Chief

The West Columbia Fire Department is a career, urban fire department that is ready to respond to emergency calls 24 hours a day and has an ISO rating of 1, the highest obtainable rating. The department provides fire protection to the City’s approximately 18,000 citizens in its 8.9 square miles. Our department takes pride in serving the citizens and visitors of the City of West Columbia. Personnel also takes pride in themselves and their equipment. You will see the fire department personnel at the station and throughout the City, conducting training exercises to improve skills and preparing pre-fire plans in preparation for an emergency.

With a city district that includes residential and commercial occupancies, four main corridors that feed into Columbia, the beautiful Lower Saluda and Congaree Rivers, and a portion of both Interstates 26 and 20, the West Columbia Fire Department is prepared to provide fire protection, operation-technician level rescue service, emergency first responder medical care, and swift water rescue response.

History of the Fire Department

The West Columbia Fire Department is possibly the oldest department in the region. It 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 on 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 time, the firefighters were all volunteers. They were alerted to a fire by the use of sirens mounted on buildings or utility poles throughout the city. When the sirens sounded, the men would leave their homes and/or jobs, go to the fire station to get the truck, (often having to push it up the hill and let it roll back to get it started), and then respond. Since the vast majority of the early residents worked at Mt. Vernon Mills, an alarm was mounted at the mill to alert workers. In 1960, the city built a new city 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. This notification method eventually changed to a paging system operated by the department. In 1979, the department moved into its current location.

The station on 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 department to a total career department with the hiring of six full-time personnel, bringing the staff to a total of twenty-one. Staffing now consists of twenty-five personnel.

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