Traditions and history are important to the fire service. Chief Carter Jones is capturing the history of the SC fire service one department or event at a time. Click here to see these short videos.
The history of the state’s fire service is being preserved. The association is collecting information and reaching out. If you would like to participate, click here.
The fire service events timeline is a chronologic view of our history. This is a continuous working project.
Click here for access to the S.C. State Firefighters’ Association Past Presidents timeline.
The Fallen Firefighter Memorial is located on the S.C. Fire Academy Campus. This memorial is a special place where all LODD firefighters from South Carolina are honored. Click here for more information.
The Establishment of the Order of the Maltese cross by the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association seeks to recognize those individuals of the SC General Assembly that share in those values and have supported South Carolina Firefighters in meeting those goals.
Retired Clarendon County Fire Chief Frances Richbourg’s history with the fire service is storied, a career full of firsts. Richbourg laid the groundwork for future female firefighters to hold positions of influence and power, paving the path as a trailblazer and legendary leader. “I’ve always...
Even though Christmas has now come and gone, a long-forgotten but remarkable story about a South Carolina boy born at Christmas time has recently acquired significant interest, especially within the fire service. Newly uncovered history reveals that a Methodist minister and his wife, John and...
This blog is the second in a series which places a spotlight on a number of our fire service leaders from the past and present whose names and contributions may have long been forgotten by current generations of firefighters or whose legacies have never been...
Over the last number of years, I have amassed significant information and research on quite a few fire service leaders from our distant past, many of whom I have known personally. So, I have decided to put my research and personal recollections to pen in...
Today, the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association releases the seventh edition of Throwback Thursday video sessions. The SCSFA will post on FireWire each Thursday at 10:00 AM videos from our archives. We are sharing these past videos that contain great nuggets of knowledge from past...
Today, the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association releases the sixth edition of Throwback Thursday video sessions. The SCSFA will post on FireWire each Thursday at 10:00 AM videos from our archives. We are sharing these past videos that contain great nuggets of knowledge from past...
Today, the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association releases the fifth edition of Throwback Thursday video sessions. The SCSFA will post on FireWire each Thursday at 10:00 AM videos from our archives. We are sharing these past videos that contain great nuggets of knowledge from past...
Today, the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association releases the fourth edition of Throwback Thursday video sessions. The SCSFA will post on FireWire each Thursday at 10:00 AM videos from our archives. We are sharing these past videos that contain great nuggets of knowledge from past...
Today, the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association releases the third edition of Throwback Thursday video sessions. The SCSFA will post on FireWire each Thursday at 10:00 AM videos from our archives. We are sharing these past videos that contain great nuggets of knowledge from past...
Over the past several days, I have had the opportunity to listen to non-stop reporting, press conferences, endless analysts and pundits discussing the issues facing not only our country but the world as we are in the throes of our most recent pandemic known as...
More than 100 years ago, Will S. Graham served as the acting chief of the Delgar Reel Squad in Sumter. While fighting a fire, he was injured by a falling wall. The next day, Feb. 23, 1907, he succumbed to his injuries, becoming Sumter County’s...
In an article researched and written in the last couple of weeks by Susan Duncan, Office Manager at S. C. State Fire, is an account of the City of Columbia’s first “Line of Duty Death” which occurred on December 14, 1868. A very young 21...
The South Carolina fire service will always remember Daniel “Danny” Carrington – the first “Line of Duty Death” recorded in Columbia’s fire service history who died Dec. 14, 1868. It also remembers Frazer “Frazee” Squier, a “volunteer citizen” who also died that fateful day. Just...
We are now well into the winter months, and for all of us it’s important to be reminded that fire safety should be a central focus as we go about our busy lives. Whether it’s at work, on shopping outings, taking in concerts/movies/church services, or...
The SC State Firefighters’ Association is now searching for its next Executive Director. This would be the 6th Director in the 114 year history of the Association and represents the daily leadership position for the 17,500 member organization. The Executive Director’s position is a multi-varied...
Long-time Clarendon County Fire Chief, Frances A. Richbourg, officially begins her retirement today from her 40 + years in the fire service. Chief Richbourg began her career as a volunteer firefighter in the late seventies when that department was in its infancy. She was attracted...
The South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association is proud to announce the selection of M. Kyle Minick as its new Executive Director. Executive Director Minick comes to the Association from the City of North Charleston where he served as the Deputy Chief of Operations. Chief...
We are sorry to inform you of the passing of a great friend and fire service icon, Harry Girtman. Harry was long a fixture of the Academy and of the Instructors Society, was irreplaceable, and certainly now will be missed. Shives Funeral Services of Columbia...
By Carter Jones Special Projects Coordinator Nearly 40 years ago on December 27th the City of Lancaster, South Carolina experienced the tragic loss of eleven inmates who died in a rapidly spreading fire in its county jail. According to James R. Bell, a member of...
Carter Jones, Special Projects Coordinator, attended the Annual Board Meeting of the National Fire Heritage Center on October 9, in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Jones presented several items to the Heritage Center on behalf of the S. C. State Firefighters’ Association. (Pictured left to...
For the last several years, this writer has done a lot of reading about the history of South Carolina’s fire service, and I have tried to capture its relevance by putting to pen those stories from our past. While doing research for all of these...
By: Carter Jones Special Projects Coordinator Soon after being employed by the Firefighters’ Association in 2014, this writer discovered at the State Archives a Petition of Incorporation for “The S. C. Volunteer Firemen’s Association”, dated June 6, 1898. It is petitioned by eleven (11) individuals,...
Probably one of the most famous fire horses in our state’s history was Old Joe of Newberry. In 1902, a freight train with livestock rolled into the town of Newberry, and in the car was a large Kentucky bay gelding standing “16 hands high and...
By: Carter Jones Special Projects Coordinator January 16, 2017 Each day I am challenged and inspired by the stories of people from our past and even the present whose lives reveal uncommon sacrifice, commitment to service, bravery, and the silent spirit of servant leadership. In...
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