General Information
A summary and description of resources
Coverage Area: 30 Square Miles
Population Protected: 35,000 Permanent per 2000 census
Schools: 7
Subdivisions: 80
Business: 840
Apartment Complexes: 12
Townhomes: 4
ISO Rating: 3
4 Stations, 8 Engines, 1 Aerial, 1 Rescue, 2 Brush Trucks, 1Station Vehicle, 4 Thermal Imager Cameras, 46 Shift Personnel, 4 Administrative Personnel
Fire Training: 32 Firefighter I, 20 Firefighter II, 21 Hazardous Material Technicians
Medical Training: 1 Paramedic, 1 EMT-I, 23 EMT-B, 17 First Responders, AED's on all Engines
Technical Rescue: Provide High Angle, Low Angle, Confined Space, Swift Water, Auto Extrication, we currently have 33 personnel trained in some aspect of technical rescue.
The Simpsonville Fire Department was created in 1922 in order to provide fire protection for the citizens of the City of Simpsonville and the surrounding area. Until the mid 1980's fire protection was provided to the citizens of the City of Simpsonville but county homeowners had to pay a contract fee to the fire department to protect their homes from the perils of fire. Once a system of taxation for fire service was developed, the old system of only responding to and extinguishing fires of people that paid the contract fee was retired. Today the Simpsonville Fire Department not only provides fire suppression services to the citizens and visitors of the District but we also provide medical first response, hazardous material response, confined space rescue, high angle rescue, swift water rescue, auto extrication, and service oriented response. In August of 2004 the Simpsonville Fire Department obtained our DHEC first response license to begin providing medical first response to the Intermediate level.
Our current staffing of 50 personnel includes, four administrative personnel which work Monday thru Friday 8 am to 5 pm, these individuals are Chief Wesley Williams, Fire Marshal Eddie Watson and Deputy Fire Marshal Adam Lezan. These individuals are charged with making sure the department runs efficiently, you may read more about these individuals through the links provided.
The personnel that respond to calls and take care of making sure the goals of the department are carried out are broken down into three shifts. Each shift has 14 members that work a rotating schedule of 24 hours on duty and 48 hours off duty. These shifts consist of a Captain, three Lieutenants, four Engineers, and seven Firefighters. On a full shift of 16 personnel our Headquarters station has 5 personnel, Station 2 has 5 personnel, Station 3 has 3 personnel, and Station 4 has 3 personnel. Headquarters has an Engine Company and a Rescue Company. Station 2 has an Engine Company and a Ladder Company. Station 3 has an Engine Company, and Station 4 has an Engine Company.
Our guidelines dictate what type of response you receive when an emergency call is received. For example; when a structure fire is received in Station 2's call area, the response would be the Engine company from Station 2, and the Engine and Rescue Company from Headquarters. Once on scene if a confirmed fire is present Station 4 would respond an Engine Company for backup and Station 3 would move up to Headquarters to cover any other calls that may be received.
The current Insurance Services Office (ISO) rating for the Simpsonville Fire District is a 3. By striving to provide a service that is rated a 3 by ISO the Simpsonville Fire Department saves money to the taxpayers through lower insurance rates.
The ISO system is regarded by fire chiefs and insurance agents as the leading indicator of a community's fire capabilities and risk. The ratings go from 1 to 10, with 10 meaning virtually no fire protection. Generally speaking, the lower an ISO rating, the lower the cost of insurance. Rate reductions are up to each insurance company. Only 49 communities in the United States - Charleston, Myrtle Beach, & Boiling Springs Fire Departments are the only ones in South Carolina - that have an ISO classification of 1. About one-third of the 43,000 fire departments ranked by ISO have a classification of 9.
