Darlington County fire chief pleads for burning ordinance

DARLINGTON, SC —Darlington County Council has voted to move forward with a proposed open burning ordinance when the state Forestry Commission issues a red flag alert.

David L. Williamson, chief of the Darlington County Fire District, appeared before council to discuss the need for such an ordinance Monday night during its regular meeting.

Williams alluded to a brush fire off Turnpike Road in Darlington County that burned 65 acres and was buffeted by 35 mph winds.

“I would like to take this opportunity to bring to your attention a very serious matter concerning open burning in Darlington County,” Williams said. “On Saturday, Feb. 19, the county was under a red-flag alert issued by the S.C. Forestry Commission.

“This alert was issued due to dry conditions and high winds, which made burning unfavorable. A red flag alert issued by the Forestry Commission does not prohibit outdoor burning.”

Williamson said the fire district responded to 21 calls for assistance that Saturday. He said 19 of those calls were fire calls the remainder for medical assistance.

“During this time, every station in the county was activated,” he said, “and we also had to obtain mutual aid assistance from the Darlington, Hartsville and West Florence fire departments. It should be noted that there were times when we were also assisting Darlington and Hartsville with fires in their areas.”

Williamson said out of the 19 fire calls, 15 were directly related to burning of household garbage. He said burning of household garbage is illegal in the state because of S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control (DHEC) rules and regulations.

“These fires could have been avoided if we had an ordinance that would prohibit burning when conditions were unfavorable and if this ordinance made it illegal to burn household garbage at any time,” he said.

Williamson said the county was in dire straits even though the forestry commission’s rangers and tractor drivers were assisting all they could.

“I have serious concerns that we could have effectively fought a structure fire during this time due to the strain on our resources,” he said. “I have also been in contact with forestry officials, Sheriff Wayne Byrd and County Administrator Dale Surrett about our concerns.”

Williamson said this was not an isolated incident.

“Several weeks ago, we had a similar weekend where the fire department was stretched to its capacity due to weather conditions,” he said. “We respectfully request to enter into a discussion with members of county council to how we may address these issues.”

Council also heard a lengthy plea from the Rev. Roy Martin for his proposed Mercy Way Community Center in Lamar. The center would be open after school and during the summer for young people and would offer character leadership, education, health and life skills, arts and music and sports, fitness and recreation programs.

The only drawback is the location is in a gym owned by the Darlington County School District that is barely being used, Martin said.

But council voted to endorse the concept of the community center and ask the school district “to help us pursue that goal.” Surrett was instructed to write the school district a letter concerning this.