Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah Fire Department

News/Upcoming Events

6-29-10: Cylinder fill station/Compressor system was delivered today to the fire department.  This system was purchased by a FEMA grant.  Cost: $40,000.00

4-26-10: Gates Ford Brush Truck is now in service for the Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah/Gates Ford areas.  This project would NOT have been possible without the community support we received.  We are very thankful for your donations for getting this brush truck equipped. 
1-29-10: $49,000 FEMA grant awarded

Kershaw, SC:  Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah Fire Department has been awarded a $49,000 grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Assistance to Firefighters Grant program.  The department will utilize this funding to purchase a Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus cylinder fill station with compressor and a thermal imaging camera.

 The fill-station and compressor will allow the department to refill our breathing apparatus cylinders after returning from calls or after using them during training.  Currently, the department has to take the cylinders to another fire station to be refilled.  This takes extra travel time and takes the volunteers longer to get equipment back in service.  The grant will also allow our firefighters to participate in more realistic training without depleting our air supply.  Also, other neighboring fire stations will be able to bring their cylinders to be refilled at our station if needed.   

The thermal imaging camera will be installed in the engine at Gates Ford Fire Station.  This is a camera that can be used to seek out hidden fires, see through smoke to locate victims, help locate lost persons in wooded areas, and many other tasks. It uses thermal imaging technology to detect the heat given off by objects.

 “This grant allows us to enhance the services we already provide and ensure we are prepared for the next call.”  “We are honored that our application was chosen for the award.” said Chief Chris Jones.

1-24-10: Special Recognition service for First Responders at Buffalo Baptist Church.  See Video excerpt below:

 

10-12-09:  Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah Fire Department has received a $2,000 donation from the John T. Stevens Foundation of Kershaw, SC. The department has utilized this funding to purchase an Automated External Defibrillator (AED). An AED is designed to “shock” the heart of a cardiac arrest patient back into normal rhythm. Studies have shown that every 1 ˝ minutes in the United States someone dies due to sudden cardiac arrest. The only way to improve this is to have early access to an AED. Every minute that a person in cardiac arrest goes without being successfully treated (by defibrillation), the chance of survival decreases by 10 percent.

“We appreciate the Stevens Foundation considering us for this donation; this AED unit will allow the fire department to respond quickly and treat patients who are in cardiac arrest.” said Chief Chris Jones.

10-1-09: Mr. Grady Newman and Members of the Red Oak Camp Chapter of the Woodmen of the World present Chief Chris Jones with a check for $150.00.  The fire department thanks the members and is very appreciative of the donation.

Mr. Grady Newman presents the check to Chief Jones

6-13-09: Congratulations to Chris Jones and Bryan Horton for completing NFPA Firefighter II training.  This brings our total to 3 firefighters who are certified to NFPA Firefighter II Level.  We appreciate their dedication and willingness to further their training. 
5-1-09: Congratulations to Chris Jones, Jamie Catoe, and Bryan Horton for completing NFPA Firefighter I training.  This brings our total to 5 firefighters who are certified to NFPA Firefighter I Level.  We appreciate their dedication and willingness to further their training. 
11-6-08: Gates Ford Brush Truck has been painted and lettered.  We still need to raise more funds to equip the truck with the needed tank and pump.  See photos here
10-3-08: Most of our extrication equipment has arrived, click here to view photos.
8-8-08 New Truck Received: Today our new truck was delivered to the fire department.  It is a 2008 Kenworth/KME Pumper.  See Photos here
8-4-08 $35,000 GRANT AWARDED FOR EXTRICATION EQUIPMENT

KERSHAW, SC: Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah Fire Department has received a $35,000 grant from the State of South Carolina through the Competitive Grant Program. The department will utilize this funding to purchase extrication tools (Jaws of Life). The extrication tools will enable the department to provide extrication rescue services to the Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah/Gates Ford areas and any adjoining fire districts if needed.

“Due to our rural location, these tools are critical to enhance the emergency services we provide.” said Chief Les Denkins.

Representative Jay Lucas presented Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah with the award on August 4th 2008. From Left to Right Chief Les Denkins, Representative Jay Lucas, and Asst. Chief Chris Jones stand in front of the rescue unit.

6-27-08 - Received notification that we received funding through a grant program for extrication equipment.  We will be contacting vendors and setting up some demo's to decide on the type tools we will purchase. 
5-5-08 - Received replacement pumper for our 1975 Ford Pumper.  It is a 2000 model GMC Pumper, top mount pump - 1250 GPM, 1000 Gal tank.  See photo here
1/4/08 - Notified that we have received a $1500 VFA Grant.  The grant will be used to purchase 10 sets of Wildland Gear to be used on woods and brush fires.
11/27/07 - Kershaw County Council approved the bid for our new pumper for the Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah Station.  It will be mounted on a Kenworth Chassis, 1000 GPM Pump, 1000 Gallon Tank, Top Mounted Pump with ladders and pike poles stored "through the tank". 

The pumper will be delivered around August-September of 2008
11/5/07 - 2008 Officers:

Chief - Les Denkins
Asst. Chief - Chris Jones (Treasurer/Secretary)
1st Captain - Patrick Vincent (Training Officer/Asst. Treasurer)
2nd Captain - Jamie Catoe (Apparatus Officer)
1st Lieutenant - James Smith (Equipment Officer)
2nd Lieutenant - Brandon Price (Safety Officer/Asst. Secretary)

10/10/07 - $6,500 donation from Stevens foundation

Kershaw, SC:  Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah Fire Department has received a $6,500 donation from the Stevens Foundation of Kershaw, SC.  The department has utilized this funding to purchase a thermal imaging camera.  This is a camera that can be used to seek out hidden fires, see through smoke to locate victims, help locate lost persons in wooded areas, and many other tasks. It uses thermal imaging technology to detect the heat given off by objects. 

“We appreciate the Stevens Foundation considering us for this donation; this camera will be a lifesaver in many ways for the Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah and Gates Ford communities.” said Chief Les Denkins. 

With the addition of this camera to Buffalo-Mt. Pisgah, currently only six out of twelve stations have thermal imaging cameras in the rural fire services of Kershaw County. 

3/16/07 - Effective 3/16/07 we are now over the Gates Ford Fire Department station on Hwy 341.  We are happy to help this station get started and to protect the Gates Ford area. 
1/1/07 - We were notified we received a VFA Grant for Radios.  We have purchased two Motorola HT1550 Portable radios.
11/6/06 - We held our annual elections, Officers for 2007:

Chief - Les Denkins
Asst. Chief - Chris Jones
1st Captain/Safety Officer  - James Smith
2nd Captain -  Jamie Catoe 
1st Lieutenant/Training Officer  - Brandon Price
2nd Lieutenant -Patrick Vincent

Treasurer - Patrick Vincent
Asst. Treasurer - Angie Smith
Secretary  - Angie Smith
Asst. Secretary - Emily Joyner

10/28/06 - We also visited Buffalo Baptist Church for their fall festival and did a safety presentation with the fire safety house.  It was also a great success. 
10/20/06 - We brought out the City Of Camden Fire Department safety house for a demonstration at the Mt. Pisgah Elementary School fall festival.  It was a great success and the kids seemed to enjoy it.  
6/30/06 - For our fundraising efforts we sent out letters to the community asking for a $25.00 donation.  The community has shown great support, we appreciate the community backing us so well.  To date we have received around $4,210.00 in donations.  Many people sent $50 and $100 donations.  Thanks for your support!!!
4/14/06 - See pictures of the ambulance we recently acquired.  It will be converted into our service truck.
3/4/06 - Received VFA grant from Forestry for $796.  We will be replacing two of our truck radios.
1/10/06 - We received our 2500 gallon replacement tanker.  It is a 1980's Model White/Volvo.  See pictures under Apparatus
1/1/06 -  We have completed the 2005 year with a total of 72 calls.  See the rundown here.
12/17/05 - We held our annual Fire Department dinner.  See our photos and awards given .
 
11/7/05 - We held annual elections tonight for positions, these will take affect immediately:

Chief - Les Denkins
Asst. Chief - Chris Jones
1st Captain/Safety Officer  - James Smith
2nd Captain - Patrick Vincent
1st Lieutenant/Training Officer  - Brandon Price
2nd Lieutenant - Jamie Catoe 

Treasurer - Patrick Vincent
Asst. Treasurer - Angie Smith
Secretary  - Angie Smith
Asst. Secretary - Emily Joyner

8/27/05 - Soon we will be getting an addition to our apparatus.  We will be phasing out our 1977 Tanker for an mid 1980's Tanker from KC Fire Service.  It will hold 2500 gallons of water, more than double our capacity on the current tanker.

6/10 - 6/11/05 - We held a spaghetti dinner.  It was a great success.  We appreciate all the support from IGA, Smalls, and 521 Grill in Kershaw.

11/08/04 - Elections were held for 2005 Officers

Chief - Les Denkins

Asst. Chief - Chris Jones

1st Captain - Randy Bradley

2nd Captain - Patrick Vincent

1st Lieutenant - James Smith

2nd Lieutenant - Jamie Catoe

3rd Lt./Safety - Brandon Price

9/03/04 - We have finally got all the work completed on our "new" brush truck. We put in many man hours getting the truck equipped with the pump, tank, lights, and siren. Signs Unlimited in Lugoff did the lettering on our truck.

Check out the pictures here

7/18/04 - County Council has approved the final ordinance. We are now set to join the county fire service as soon as the contract has been drawn up and signed.
6/17/04 - We've recently added to our fleet. We purchased a 1999 Chevrolet 2500 Pickup Truck to replace our 1977 Dodge that was loaned to us by forestry. See the before picture here. When our conversion of this truck into a brush truck is complete, we will add the pictures onto the site.
05/21/04 - The board of commissioners, the officers, and the members have decided to start the process of being incorporated into the Kershaw County Fire Service. Costs keep rising and we are getting no where fast as we stand now. Going in the County Fire System will allow us to receive newer apparatus and better equipment to use. The fire department will still be in the same location, run by the same people, and none of our equipment will be taken away unless it will be replaced by something better. We are asking the community to support this decision because it will allow us to better serve the community, lower taxes, and eventually help us to lower homeowner insurance ratings. At this point we have to figure out what legal steps we must take, and at that time it will be publicized.
03/01/04 - Congrats to Jamie Catoe, James Smith, and Brandon Price on their promotions. Jamie is 1st Lieutenant, James 2nd Lieutenant, and Brandon 3rd Lieutenant/Safety Ofc.
12/06/03- Firefighter of the Year: Billy Sowell and Randy Bradley
(We had a tie)
11/15/03 - Congratulations to Brandon Price, James Smith, and Jamie Catoe for completing the Basic OSHA Interior Firefighter Class. This brings our total number of certified interior firefighters to 9
11/12/03 - Letter to the Editor in the Kershaw News Era thanking us for our efforts at a structure fire earlier this year. Click here to see it
11/06/03-
Election Results for 2004 officers:

Chief: Billy Sowell
Asst. Chief: Chris Jones
1st Captain: Randy Bradley
2nd Captain: Patrick Vincent
08/28/03 - Received our 11 sets of gear which we purchased with our FEMA grant money.
08/20/03 - We were notified that we had been awarded a $700 VFA grant from Forestry.
We used the monies to purchase two radios to upgrade our truck radios.
07/21/03 - Today we received our 16 airpacks which we purchased with our grant money. See pictures here
6/19/03 - Today we learned of the status of the Assistance to Firefighters Grant we submitted back in April of this year. We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded a total of $55.791 that will enable us to upgrade our turnout gear and airpacks. This grant will enable us to further protect our firefighters and provide them with the best safety equipment on the market.
See our award info plus other SC fire depts who have received the awards
here
01/02/03 - Three business fire in Bethune that we backed them up on



Volunteer Firefighters Needed..

We are looking for a few good men and women to lead our department into the future. There are a wide range of opportunities available at the department. You dont have to volunteer just to fight fire. There are plenty of other tasks besides fighting fire.


    Call 475-3711 and leave your name and number on answering machine for more info

    Or stop by on the First or Third Monday in the month at 7 p.m.