The Town of Wagener hired David Watson as Fire Chief for the volunteer fire department in mid-February. Watson replaces Gerald Taylor who served as interim chief from November 2020 until February 2021.
The Wagener volunteer fire department currently has 14 active firefighters. The position of Assistant Chief has not been filled at this time. Serving as Captain is Travis Kennedy and serving as Lieutenant is Eric Middleton. Kennedy is second in charge until an Assistant Chief is named.
“We’re trying to move forward,” Watson said recently. “The group that was here did an amazing job. Mark was a phenomenal fire chief. Gerald Taylor did a fabulous job to make sure people were still protected. The community is protected and well taken care of. The fire department is here for the community.”
Watson has had quite a few calls in the month that he has been here including two structure fires in Salley, two in New Holland, a couple of medical calls and standing by for Couchton during the barn and brush fire.
Watson’s primary focus is on getting a second station out 302 beyond the five-mile radius. They’re looking for property now and applying for a Grant. In addition to fire protection, this would lower insurance costs for homeowners.
A Meet the Chief coffee talk is in the works so the community can get to know Watson. A youth program will be developed with the schools to get youth involved in the fire and EMS service. This Explorer program will allow avenues for the New Holland, Wagener, Perry and Salley areas to have more volunteers. These volunteers can go on to paid positions in the bigger cities or develop their own careers as they continue to volunteer in their community.
Watson is also working with the SC Fire Academy about hosting an EMT class as well as fire classes in order to develop more community volunteers.
The fire department currently has two pumpers, one truck company and one tanker. The truck company carries all extrication and ventilation equipment and serves for operations. The two pumpers are the initial attack engines to a structure fire. The tanker is the one that supplies the pumper with more water in rural areas where a hydrant is not available.
The son of a deputy sheriff, David Watson is originally from Texas. The family moved up to South Carolina and then to New York where Watson started his EMS career as a volunteer at the age of 16. He has 30+ years in emergency services and fire.
Watson worked for Aiken County as an intermediate EMT for over ten years. He worked in the New Ellenton fire department for fifteen years and with the Silver Bluff fire department for a few years before coming to Wagener.