It’s been a banner year for the Clarendon County Fire Department.
Over the summer the agency celebrated its 40th year of service to the Clarendon County community.
County Council recognized the agency during its regular monthly meeting last week with a proclamation, presenting the document to Chief Frances Richbourg.
The celebration culminated Sept. 19 with two ceremonies held at Weldon Auditorium.
In one, six of Clarendon County’s finest received promotions as the department held its recruit graduation ceremony.
“We’ve been growing from year to year, and with growth, we need leadership throughout the county,” said Deputy Chief Michael Johnson on Sept. 20. “The ceremony was all about promoting those who are eligible for that leadership. Of course, we had a very good group to choose from.”
Chief Frances Richbourg was also pleased that evening to welcome nine new recruits to the agency.
“These are nine volunteers who started the class in March,” said Capt. Casey Connors, one of the instructors for the class. “They are all now at Firefighter I status.”
Connors said more than a dozen initially signed up for the class.
“As you go along, some realize it’s not for them, or they decide it’s just too much,” Connors said. “Those who stick it out are the best of the best, and we are proud of these new recruits.”
The graduates included James C. Bagnal; Brittani N. Bensoussan; J. Matt Bradshaw; Chanceley C. Coker; E. Courtney Atkinson; Joshua Holladay; Crystal M. Miller; John L. Weeks; and Chance T. Welch.
Connors said it won’t be but a couple of months before the agency has another graduating class. The Clarendon County Fire Department began a training class on the eastern side of the county in early August.
“Some classes have to be taught in Manning, because we have the burn building there and we can’t move that to Turbeville,” said Connors. “But the majority of the training will be in the Turbeville area.”
Johnson said last week that the department currently has about 120 volunteer firefighters on the roster with the new recruits now working.
Volunteers do everything from driving and operating equipment, working as emergency medical responders and working as support staf for the career firefighters.
“Recruit class, of course, works to familiarize them with the department and the equipment,” Connor ssaid. “They work on helping on scene, changing cylinders, tools and other equipment. Firefighter operators are in charge of the apparatus and bringing it to the scene. We have classes for emergency vehicle driver training and pump operations.”
Emergency medical responding is limited to those with prior medical training, he noted.
“We have a number of EMTs working with us who volunteer at the fire department on their free time,” Connors said. “We have nurses and doctors who volunteer in that capacity.”
Firefighters become certified through the Fire Academy, and the county teaches the same classes the state Fire Academy teaches.
“That’s required of all of the recruits,” said Conners. “They will have to be certified after the class, which takes about roughly 200 hours.”
Connors said the training takes about four months.
“Those who started the class in August will be finished by Christmas,” he said. “We only meet twice or thre times a week because we are cognizant of folks’ schedules. Most of our volunteers have other jobs and lives.”
Connors said that, by the time recuirts finish the training, they have completed HAZMAT operations, along with the fundamentals of firefighting and the certification for Firefighter I.
Conners said that with Clarendon County consisting of 606-square miles, 35 miles of Interstate 95 and 33 miles of Lake Marion shoreline, the department is in dire need of volunteers.
“We have 16 stations and roughly 35 career members at this point,” he said. “Volunteers are an intricate part of our community service to make sure we’re allowing for the best service possible for our residents. It would not be feasibly possible to offer the services we do with the limited career staff we have without our volunteers. They are an intricate part of our department.”
Conners said the department holds a recruit school every year.
The department held two in 2017 as part of its effort to increase the volunteer force.
“We’ve been working pretty diligently to bring people in and make sure we have the people necessary, so that’s why we had the second one,” he said.
The second class is also part of the county’s work with a federal government grant which allowed for a billboard campaign for the past 10 months.
“We will be doing a continuation of that,” Connors said. “With the new class, we’re trying to get volunteers up in our north-end stations. We have limited volunteers over there.”
Johnson added that classes can hold between 20 and 25 people, but the department rarely sees that many recruits at one time.
“It’s not something everyone is going to come in and say, ‘I really want to do this,’” said Johnson. “You have to want to serve. It’s a passion for many of us, volunteers and staffers alike.”
Although the department has frequently yearned for more recruits, Connors said one thing it has never lacked is diversity.
After all, three of the nine who graduated last week are female. And, of course, the Clarendon County Fire Department is headed by one of the first female fire chiefs in the state, if not the country.
“We have a number of female volunteers,” said Connors. “My wife and one of my daughters have gone through the recruit school and volunteer. We have career firefighters, like our chief, who are female. This isn’t just a man’s world.”
Those interested in volunteering should call (803) 435-4075.
