By Erin Weeks
Aiken Standard
WAGENER, S.C. — O’Neal Miller’s house on the outskirts of Wagener caught on fire Jan. 2.
The incident, which occurred around 8 a.m., severely burned the back portion of the home located at 236 Collum Pond Road.
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Miller stated that following the loss of his home, he is disappointed that the Wagener Fire Department did not respond to the scene.
Miller said he believed there were around six fire trucks that responded to the fire.
However, it wasn’t until after they began extinguishing it that he noticed the firefighters were from Salley, Couchton and New Holland — but none were with the Wagener Fire Department.
“There was nothing I could do but just sit and look,” he said. “That’s when I started paying attention to who was here.”
The Wagener Police Department did arrive on the scene of the incident, he said.
Miller, 75, said he began building the house on Collum Pond Road when he was in his late 20s.
“I’ve lost a good portion of my life’s work there,” he said.
He said he believes that “a lot of that could have been saved” if the Wagener Fire Department had made an appearance. The department’s headquarters at 299 Park St. is about two miles away from Miller’s property.
According to the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office, this particular fire fell outside of the Wagener Fire Department’s response plan as the property is technically outside of town limits.
Former Wagener Fire Chief Hendrik Swanepoel previously shared that decreased funding has squeezed the department’s coverage area; where it once served about 95 square miles, the department now serves an area of about a mile and a half.
Swanepoel, who resigned from the position earlier in November, has expressed concern that dwindling tax revenue and a lack of funding have made it impossible to maintain essential firefighting equipment; he said the department currently has just enough funding to put fuel in the fire trucks and nothing beyond that.
Miller said that his younger brother is Mike Miller, Wagener’s longtime mayor. Mike Miller was defeated by challenger Kevin Young in the November election.
Mike Miller did not respond to a request for comment.
The Aiken Standard also reached out to the Wagener Fire Department for comment but did not receive a response.
In the past few years, there have been a number of issues 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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