Black History Month Spotlight—Shaun Gadsden

February 15, 2024

Awendaw-McClellanville Fire Department Chief Shaun Gadsden grew up in the fire service. His father, Francis Gadsden, is a retired Senior Battalion Chief at Mount Pleasant Fire Department. Like many young adults, he wanted to blaze his own path and set off for college. But ultimately, the fire service pulled him in.

“I was trying to fight it by saying, “Hey, you know, I wanna do something totally different,’... But I always loved the big red fire trucks,” he laughed.

He took a pause from college and turned to volunteering at Sullivan’s Island Fire Department to fill his time. In 1998, Shaun applied to be a firefighter at the North Charleston Fire Department. He spent the summer of ’98 in recruit school, and his course was set.

“It was very diverse down there… it was a close reflection of the community,” Shaun recalled of his early days in North Charleston.

Shaun may have been hesitant to join the fire service at the beginning of his career, but once he knew this was the job for him, he set his goal high: he wanted to be fire chief.

“I’ve always learned from my parents, don’t just do a job just to do it, set out to be your very best,” Shaun continued, “With that mindset, if you set yourself to be the fire chief and you don’t make it, you make it as far as engineer or captain, least everyone based on your mindset and work ethic will know that ‘Hey, you know, you made it to captain, but you gave it your all and you worked hard and never gave up.’”

As fire chief, Shaun emphasizes the hard work ethic and ‘shooting for the stars’ mentality he learned from his parents. He takes pride in his people and giving them agency to define and become their definition of ‘successful.’

“I’m not afraid to showcase my people, and that’s one thing that I said I was going to do when I become fire chief, if I ever became fire chief… I don’t run this organization, my people do, so it’s my responsibility to give them the tools and resources to do their very best,” he stated. “Give them the platform to accomplish their goals and be their very best and to create and promote change and success.”

Awendaw-McClellanville firefighters made department history in September 2023 when they had an all-Black engine company.

“As I do every day, I get up and look at our daily plan and our roster and I noticed that we had two African Americans on the truck together, so I said, ‘Look at this, this is interesting,’” Shaun noted.

On his way into the office that morning, he stopped by the station to chat with the guys.

“I said, ‘Do you guys know what you did?’ And they said, ‘No sir, we cleaned the truck, we promise,’” he said, recalling their weary reactions to chief paying them an unexpected visit. “I said, ‘No, you just made history by being the first African American engine company in department history.’ They were both surprised and ecstatic at the same time.”

The story of the first all-Black engine company in Awendaw-McClellanville history ended up making the local news and became a gateway to highlight the department’s diversity.

“Highlighting them brought the best out in them, they were excited to be here. People who work with them were excited that, “Hey, we’re making history,’” he stated. “When you promote greatness within your organization, it’s like a shining light, it reflects out in the open and other folks want to be a part of this organization.”

The role of a fire chief is a big one, but, as Shaun puts it, “No one person in this organization is bigger than this organization… we are the organization.”

“It’s my responsibility to bring in young minds or allow the minds of my staff – whether you’re female, male, white, black, green, or yellow, tall or short – to bring different ideas to help grow our organization.”

As a leader, Shaun pays deep homage to those who have come before him who made it possible for a Black man to be a fire chief.

“As an African American in South Carolina as a fire chief, I oftentimes think about those who have paved the way for me, like my father and several other individual here in the local area,” Shaun reflected.

 “I am extremely proud to represent not just the greats that paved the way for me in the fire service, but also the African Americans who sacrificed their lives and dedicated their lives and their work to making sure that somebody like myself can sit here and talk about them.”