By Erin Weeks
Aiken Standard
WAGENER, S.C. — Just three months into the job, Wagener Fire Chief Hendrik Swanepoel has resigned after hosting an emergency press conference in which shrinking tax revenue and lack of town funding were addressed.
Joining him in resigning was Assistant Fire Chief Lester Baker.
Swanepoel said he had hoped the press conference would give Wagener’s recently elected mayor and council members a chance to take a closer look at the fire department’s issues before they are sworn into office in January.
However, the lack of attendance from these individuals discouraged him enough to prompt his resignation.
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According to Swanepoel, none of the new council members were present.
“I invited all of them to come do a meeting on Tuesday to come see what the problem is,” he said. “This is a large safety matter... not one of the council members, not the old council members, nobody came.”
He said the only attendees were seven community members and several members of nearby fire departments.
County Councilman Ron Felder commented on the situation, saying: “When the new council members come on board January they start the process of resolving the fire department issues then.”
According to Swanepoel, there was a time when the department collected around $145,000 annually in tax revenue when its coverage area was larger — about 95 square miles. Now, the department only serves an area of about a mile and a half and only brings in around $7,200.
“The lack of funding is a big problem,” he said.
Swanepoel said this isn’t enough to maintain essential firefighting equipment; he said they have enough money now to put fuel in the firetrucks and nothing beyond that.
One area of concern for him is the inability to replace radios used on the job. “We don’t have enough radios, and the radios we have don’t work right,” he said.
“I just can’t carry on and send my people into a fire without the right equipment that’s not working because I can’t put their lives in danger,” he said.
He said he plans to continue serving the community in Wagener through his business E & H Concessions and will still be working as a driver/operator at the Aiken Department of Public Safety, where he has been for the past four years.
It’s just the latest chapter in the ongoing saga of problems involving the Wagener Fire Department.
In August, two of Wagener’s former fire chiefs were arrested on charges relating to breach of trust with fraudulent intent, according to reports from the State Law Enforcement Division.
David Watson, 52, of Neeses, and Joseph Mark Redd, 66, of Wagener, were both listed in the morning of Aug. 19 as inmates in the Aiken County detention center. Both posted bond later that morning and were released, according to a jail official.
In 2020, disagreements between Wagener officials and Wagener Fire Department leaders led to the suspensions and subsequent dismissals of Redd and Assistant Chief George Day. There were allegations from people involved in the controversies that fire fees had been misappropriated.
Aiken County Council opened an investigation into the fire department and sent information to the S.C. Department of Revenue.
The Aiken Standard in the spring 2021 published a story that focused on the use of fire fees in Wagener after examining the records of the town and its fire department obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The records showed questionable spending practices by the fire department and the transfer by the town of fees collected specifically for the operation of the fire department to other bank accounts without explanation.
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