FAIRFIELD COUNTY — Fairfield County Fire Services is short on volunteer firefighters – way short. To combat that shortage the fire service is hosting an open house on Thursday. It starts at 6 p.m. at the new Fairfield County Administration Building, located at 350 Columbia Road.
“We are down, we have 120 volunteers that are rostered, and about 60 of those are active with us,” says Fairfield County Fire Chief Jason Pope. “We need at least 60 more countywide to meet the needs of our county.
“In the western portion of Fairfield County, Jenkinsville and Blair, we only have about 4 volunteers,” Pope said. “We sometimes are so short that we have to seek help from Richland and Kershaw Counties for recent fires.
“The purpose of this open house is for the public,” Pope said. “It’s for the public, for those who may be interested in volunteering who maybe don’t have all of their questions answered. They just want to come, want to hear from us, to describe a little bit about what it means to be involved in the fire department, what it’s about.”