True North is pleased to announce the award of the first True North Firefighter Training Scholarship. The scholarship was awarded to the Whitesville Rural (SC) Fire Department.
The Whitesville Rural Fire Department is located 30 miles north of Charleston, SC. The population in this rural area has grown tremendously, and the growth includes large structures such as strip malls and commercial buildings. The growth in this community created new hazards that firefighters must be prepared to face. Hazards similar to the ones firefighters faced in the Sofa Super Store Fire on June 18, 2007.
The firefighting community will never forget the tragic loss of nine firefighters in the Sofa Super Store Fire. Whiteville Fire Chief Tim Stephenson will never forget. And he wants to ensure that his firefighters have the best training possible to prepare for the day when they face a similar situation.
The current curriculum at the South Carolina Fire Academy doesn’t offer courses which give detailed
firefighting strategies and tactics for dealing with fires in large commercial structures. As a result, Fire Chief Stephenson applied for the True North Firefighting Training Scholarship.
The training scholarship will pay $3,000 to teach tactics and strategies for commercial “Big Box” fires. The training program was customized for the fire department by On Scene Training Associates. The training is scheduled for December 10-12 at the Berkeley County Emergency Service Training Center and will provide classroom and hands-on training for 30 students.
