BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. – The future of the Sandridge Volunteer Fire Department remains uncertain following meetings with county officials as well as with the fire department’s board members this week.
According to the Sandridge Volunteer Fire Department, on Wednesday night it presented a solution to Berkeley County officials and to the fire department’s board that would have allowed its firefighters to return to duty and continue providing emergency services to the community.
The solution, firefighters said, would have also put paid people in the station during the day time shifts Monday through Friday, covering the hours when the department is critically short on volunteers.
However, the board reportedly turned down the solution.
“It truly hurts us to know that the board could have taken this opportunity to greatly increase fire protection in the district,” the fire department posted on its official Facebook page. “This is something that would never have been possible with our small budget.”
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Staff and volunteer firefighters have made it no secret that they have a strained relationship with the fire department’s board. Earlier this week, the Sandridge Fire Department announced that most of its firefighters resigned due to their inability, they said, to “properly protect the community, or ourselves under the leadership of the current board.”
This week, the fire department also announced on social media the launch of a Change.org petition with the goal of gathering enough signatures to replace current board members with new ones. As of Thursday, the online petition has collected nearly 300 signatures.
“We have volunteers who are willing and ready to jump in to be our heroes during our darkest hours and worst days! It’s time we stand up and be THEIR heroes! This board has GOT to go!!” part of the online petition reads.
As the future of the Sandridge Fire Department remains in limbo, neighboring fire departments, including the including the Cross and C&B fire departments, will operate directly out of the fire district to respond to emergencies in the Sandridge community as needed.
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