BURGER COLUMN: Making do with what you have

HOLLYWOOD - Fire Chief Doc Matthews and two of his staff members share a 40-square-foot office from which he is responsible for 465 square miles of Charleston County.

Somehow those numbers just don't add up.

But that's nothing new for Matthews and others in charge of rural fire departments where populations are growing and resources are scarce.

With 63 full-time personnel and 10 volunteer firefighters, the St. Paul's Fire Department answered 1,691 calls last year, almost five per day, from its six stations scattered between Ravenel, Adams Run and Edisto Island.

That's why Matthews, who's been chief in this southern swath of coastal South Carolina for 19 years, leans heavily on Charles Riddle, the station's health and safety officer, who spends his time filling out forms in search of ever-scant grant money.

"The only secret I know to getting grants is to write from the heart and tell the truth," Riddle said.

The truth

That truth is, this is just one of many smaller fire departments charged with protecting its people the best it can.

And while this special-purpose district is funded by taxes, it always needs more money to serve the growing population, up 12 percent in recent years.

"It's urban sprawl," Matthews said. "Our calls just keep going up. Two hundred last month. Two hundred the month before. We had 20 on Saturday."

To help meet these increasing needs, they've had to learn to work the system.

Most recently, this department received Homeland Security grants of $1.8 million for the construction of a new fire station near Meggett, $55,000 for a smoke trailer used to educate schoolchildren, and $110,000 for a mobile system that allows them to refill oxygen bottles on the scene of an emergency.

Since 2009, the department has brought in more than $2 million in grants. It's also floating a $3.3 million bond issue to buy new trucks and build a much-needed administration building.

"Maybe then we can move some employees out of closets," Matthews said as we toured the cramped firehouse.

A more serious problem, however, revealed itself as we walked past a wall map.

Red dots

Small red dots on the map designated fire hydrants in the sprawling district. Unfortunately, the red dots covered only 23 percent of the area.

Most are near small towns, but there are none on Edisto Island where they have to haul extra water to fight fires.

"That's where people are building these 3,000-square-foot houses," Matthews said. "So we're just trying to be prepared for things before they happen."

But it all comes at a price. Recently, the district raised taxes by 12 percent, about $4 a year on a $100,000 house.

"That's not much when you consider what people save on homeowner's insurance by having a professional fire department," Riddle said. " It's about the cost of a combo meal at your local fast-food restaurant."

And these folks deliver.