What’s the situation at Wagener Fire Department? The new chief told us this ...

WAGENER, S.C. (WRDW/WAGT) - A shake-up has taken Wagener’s firefighting roster down from 12 to four, but the interim fire chief says he’s working to rebuild a volunteer fire department that he inherited with what he believes are a range of problems.

Gerald Taylor, who spent decades with the Aiken Department of Public Safety, including 10 years as the chief of the fire division, said he took over as unpaid Wagener fire chief on Nov. 12.

A retiree and part-time police officer, he said he accepted the position for the good of the public.

“The mayor asked me … would I try to manage it for an interim period to help make sure that the folks would have continued fire protection,” Taylor told News 12.

Taylor explained that although the fire department has ties to the county through a contract and consists of volunteers, it answers to the town of Wagener.

He said each fire district in Aiken County has a governing board, and in Wagener, that board is the town council. Although the firefighters are not paid, they are considered employees, and they answer to the board.

Mayor Mike Miller told News 12 on Friday, the day after Taylor took over, that the officers of the department had been relieved of their positions and “temporarily suspended” pending further investigation.

Whatever the situation he stepped into, “I think the firefighters did a fantastic job,” Taylor said. “Everyone on roll did what they were asked to,” he said.

However, he said he had questions about whether people had been held able.

When two people were terminated and nine walked out, he was left with only one firefighter who’d previously been on the roll, he said. But two others have been recruited since then.

A department needs to have 10 to be considered active. Right now, they have two people to operate the fire hose, and someone to drive the truck, but they do not have anyone who is qualified to actually enter a burning building.

So with four firefighters, including him, at a department that had responded to at least 79 calls this year by Nov. 12, Taylor says he’s coordinating with surrounding departments that are offering to assist.

However, “some are skeptical and some are not,” he said. “They’re skeptical because of the tension that this has caused." But that tension is nothing new.

Either way, ensuring that people have fire protection is crucial.

“I came into this to help the folks in this district,” Taylor said. “I want these folks to have emergency services.”

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