By Glenn Smith and Ron Menchaca
The Post and Courier (Charleston, SC)

CHARLESTON, S.C. — James Island Fire Chief Chris Seabolt watches with wonder as the neighboring city of Charleston spends millions of dollars to upgrade its fire department with state-of-the-art equipment and training.

New hoses, protective gear, heat-seeking cameras, top-of-the-line air packs. The city is sparing no expense in the wake of the Sofa Super Store fire that killed nine of its firefighters.

Seabolt is just hoping he'll have enough money to pay for pens and paper, medical supplies, cell phones and other necessities after the governing commission sliced more than $200,000 from his proposed budget.

"It completely blew me away," he said of the revised budget. "I am not going to have the budget to run this department effectively."

The budget gap between Charleston and James Island is indicative of the varied reactions from communities as their fire departments re-evaluate operations in response to the fatal June 18 blaze. Most communities have expressed sympathy and concern for firefighter safety, but some say there are limits to what they can do.

While Charleston had pledged to make its fire department a national model, other cities and towns are taking more modest steps, some because their equipment and tactics were already up to speed.

Still, the North Charleston Fire Department recently upgraded protective gear. Mount Pleasant is using grant money and town funds to buy more thermal imaging cameras to detect hidden flames. And the St. Paul's Fire District is adding a thermal imager and three firefighters.

Overall, St. Paul's Fire Chief Doc Matthews said, the June 18 tragedy seems to have increased awareness and support for fire department needs.

"We've had a whole lot less resistance to some of the requests we've been trying to make for years," he said.

Some can't afford costs
But not everyone can afford to make changes, and some fire officials are encountering skepticism.

June Waring was one of four James Island Public Service District Commission members who took a knife to Seabolt's budget. She said it was a bloated plan that tried to piggy-back off the Charleston tragedy at a time when taxpayers can ill afford to pay more.

"It's because of the Charleston Nine," she said. James Island fire officials "are using that as a sympathy thing simply to coerce us into giving them more of their wish list. But we are not going to skin the taxpayer in these tough times."

Seabolt requested an extra $244,000 over two years to bring firefighter salaries up to market level and stem a tide of turnover. Waring and three other commissioners countered with a revised budget that included raises for most firefighters but made deep cuts to medical and office supplies, training, replacement gear and other items.

The revised budget must still be voted on, but it already has led to the resignation of Seabolt's deputy chief and sinking morale in the department.

"I had people telling me, 'This year you are going to get anything you want.' I don't work that way," Seabolt said. "I don't take advantage of situations. We only requested what we felt we needed to do our jobs."

North Charleston Fire Department Battalion Chief Eric Phillips said the fire forced many departments to evaluate their own safety practices. "We have always been safety conscious, but when something like that happens, it makes you take a look at yourself."

The state Fire Academy in Columbia has seen enrollment climb about 1,000 students over last year. In particular demand are courses dealing with tactical issues raised in the wake of the city fire, such as incident command procedures and firefighter rescue training, said Lesia Kudelka, assistant director of the Office of Communications and Governmental Affairs with the Department of Labor, Licensing and Regulation.

St. Andrews Fire Chief Mark Schrade said the sofa store fire raised awareness about the needs of the fire service and helped many departments that were struggling for political support. But he doesn't want to see fire departments become overzealous in attempting to outfit their operations.

"Every department needs to understand that they need to be fiscally responsible. Just because it happened doesn't mean a community can just open up the coffers and spend."

What's enough?
Fire chiefs in some Lowcountry cities and towns are trying to be sensitive to those concerns while ensuring that they provide adequate protection to the communities they serve.

Isle of Palms Fire Chief Ann Graham recently requested an extra $715,000 to hire and equip 12 firefighters so her department can keep pace with growth, bigger buildings and emergency needs on the island. Graham also wants to buy more thermal imaging cameras and boost rescue training.

"We have a lot of dedicated and well-trained individuals, and we have been doing the best we can," she said. "But the fire on June 18 was a real eye-opener that maybe we could be doing things better."

Isle of Palms Mayor Mike Sottile doesn't think the city can swing the expense this year, given demands to combat heavy beach erosion, pay off a new $3.7 million fire station and break ground on a $6.3 million public safety complex.

"It's always on your mind, and it's a tremendous burden, having to consider the well-being of your firefighters as well as residents," he said. "But this is the leanest budget year we've had in a long time."

Other communities are looking for grants and donations to offset fire department upgrades.

The Pine Ridge Fire Department in Berkeley County understands what's at stake as well as anyone. Two of the nine men who died in the sofa store fire, Brandon Thompson and Michael French, volunteered at Pine Ridge. Thompson's brother Jeffery is deputy chief there.

But with a budget around $400,000, there's only so much they can do. Luckily, the Michael French and Brandon Thompson Memorial Fund paid for a thermal imaging camera, and the department received a grant to provide each of its firefighters with walkie-talkies.

"(The fire) had a large effect on our department, and we're looking into getting as much safety equipment as we can," Chief Ben Waring said. "But we also have to keep the lights on in the station and keep fuel in the trucks."