SC firefighters meet at statehouse with lawmakers

COLUMBIA, SC (WOLO) — According to state statistics, almost 20,000 firefighters are employed in South Carolina.

Wedneaday, the state firefighters association members met with lawmakers at the statehouse.

Chief Malcolm Burns, president of the state firefighters association, says legislators have been helpful to protecting the thousands of men and women fighting fires in South Carolina.

“The biggest one I can think of is the cancer policy. It is tremendous,” Burns said. “Firefighters everyday go in atmospheres that nobody else wants to go in with carcinogens and bad stuff. We fought for years to get a cancer policy to cover our members who become ill from this job.”

Chief Burns says the association hopes to close a loophole associated with the cancer policy. It also hopes to boost pay and incentives to help recruit and retain employees, with stations nationwide experiencing a shortage. 

“We have departments that have never experienced shortages before having them now. From small volunteer departments to large career departments, it is nationwide,” the chief said. “It is all branches of first responders, EMS, law enforcement and dispatchers.”

Funding all the equipment required to fight fires is also a challenge, especially when the equipment becomes more expensive. 

“We’re facing the same challenges that consumers are,” Burns said. “We’re just on a larger scale because our toys cost more.”

However new technology has helped firefighters effectively do their job, as demonstrated by a landfill fire earlier this week. 

“We flew a drone up there and were able to see where the hotspots were of the fire we needed to hit. We couldn’t see through the smoke,” Burns said. “It took a two-day operation down to six hours because we were able to pinpoint the base of the fire and hit it with water.”

The chief adds that there are positions in the profession for just about anyone. 

“If you go by a fire or wreck scenes and want to help, you can probably help. I’m sure there’s a department where there’s a career or volunteer spot for you,” he said. “Whether you want to fight fire, work on trucks or are on the book side of things, reach out to your local fire department. They’ll put you to work.”

Governor McMaster showed up to the event and was inducted into the South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association’s Society of the Maltese Cross.