A Sunday afternoon fire again points to the issue we raised in this Special Report.
The Charleston Fire Department responded to a fire in the Shadowmoss Plantation around 2:00 pm. Charleston Engine 19 is the closest station to the fire, and responded first. The next closest unit is Saint Andrews station three (2.5 miles) on Ashley River Road. The next closest CFD station is Engine 16 (4.5 miles) on Ashley Hall Plantation Rd, followed by Engine 12 (7.3 miles) on Old Towne Road.
I spoke to CFD spokesman Mark Ruppel Sunday night, he said “under the current policy the fire was handled properly”.
Ruppel also said that Charleston Chief Rusty Thomas, and St. Andrews Chief Mark Schrade had three meetings last week to “enhance” the current mutual aid agreement.
Original Article
When you dial 911, help can’t get there fast enough.
However, it may not be coming from the closest resource.
Now some Lowcountry fire chiefs are working toward an Automatic Aid plan to make sure you get the help you need regardless of where your tax money goes.
INTERACTIVE MAPView an interactive map of all the fire departments in the areaVIDEO EXTRASTo view additional videos,
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Saint Andrews PSD Fire Chief Mark Schrade is one of the strongest proponents of Automatic Aid. He says, it is not uncommon for Charleston City fire trucks to drive past one of his departments en route to a call. Schrade also says, his department is guilty of the same practice, and that it does not make sense.
In fact, Chief Schrade says one of the reasons he is pushing this change is a recent fire where he says his firefighters struggled with a fire and never called the CFD for help.
Schrade, and four other chiefs from neighboring jurisdictions including the Charleston City Fire Department, are working toward implementing Automatic Aid. Schrade is bridging the gap to that plan, by proposing an enhancement of the current mutual aid agreement. He says it ensures his citizens get the closest resource when they need it, even if it is not his department.
Charleston Fire Chief Rusty Thomas says he supports automatic aid, and agrees that an enhancement of the current agreement is a good idea.
Neither chief would speculate on a timetable for implementation, but Schrade said he hopes to launch his enhanced mutual aid program by December 1st.
