Fire Department

(803) 791-4440

610 N 12th St
West Columbia SC 29169

Guiding Principals

1. We Serve the Community: This principle highlights the department’s primary purpose: to serve and protect its community. This principle embodies the department’s commitment to providing prompt and professional emergency response services to the public. This principle also implies that the department is an integral part of the community and that they are committed to building strong relationships with the people they serve.

2. We Serve Each Other: This principle emphasizes the importance of teamwork and mutual support among members of the department. It recognizes that each department member is valuable and essential to the team’s overall success. This principle also implies that the department fosters a culture of respect, integrity, and empathy among its members.

3. We Train to Serve: This principle emphasizes the importance of ongoing training and development for members of the department. It recognizes that emergency response services require specialized skills and knowledge that need to be continually updated and refined. This principle also implies that the department is committed to providing its members with the resources and support they need to excel in their roles and serve the community to the best of their abilities.

ISO Classification – Class 1

The West Columbia Fire Department’s Class 1 ISO (Insurance Services Office) protection class rating is a measure of the department’s ability to respond to fires and provide fire protection services. ISO is a leading provider of data, analytics, and decision-support services for the property and casualty insurance industry.

A Class 1 rating is the highest possible rating that a fire department can achieve, and it indicates that the department has excellent fire protection capabilities. The ISO uses a rating system that evaluates several factors that impact a community’s fire protection capabilities, including the fire department’s equipment, training, response levels, water supply systems, and emergency communications.

Insurance companies use the ISO’s ratings to help determine the premiums for property insurance. Communities with better fire protection capabilities, as reflected by higher ISO ratings, generally have lower insurance premiums. This means that property owners in West Columbia are likely to benefit from lower insurance rates because of the Fire Department’s Class 1 rating.

Administration

The Administration Division plays a crucial role in managing the administrative functions of the West Columbia Fire Department. The division is responsible for a range of duties, including department maintenance, procurement, equipment logistics, training, ISO compliance, and personnel management. The Assistant Chief of Administration (A/C) works closely with the Fire Chief and Assistant Chief of Operations to achieve organizational goals. The A/C also rotates as Duty Chief, along with the A/C of Operations and Fire Chief.

Operations

The Operations Division of the West Columbia Fire Department is the largest division and plays a critical role in managing emergency operations and personnel, including Fire, EMS, and Special Operations. The Assistant Chief of Operations (A/C) directly manages all shift battalion chiefs and their subordinates to ensure high-quality service is consistently provided to the City of West Columbia’s stakeholders. The A/C works closely with the Fire Chief and Assistant Chief of Administration & Support Services to achieve organizational goals. The A/C also rotates as Duty Chief along with the A/C of Administration & Support Services and Fire Chief.

1. Fire Suppression
2. EMS
3. Technical Rescue Team

History of the Fire Department

The West Columbia Fire Department is possibly the oldest department in the city. 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 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 time, the firefighters were all volunteers. They were alerted to a fire by 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.