Columbia Fire Department donates decommissioned trucks to area schools

Irmo, SC (Paul Kirby) Columbia Fire Chief Aubrey D. Jenkins,in partnership with the City of Columbia and Richland County, recently donated a truck the department was no longer using to Lexington / Richland School District Five’s The Center for Advanced Technical Studies. This was just one of three fire engines that was donated. The other two went to districts in Richland County. The donated fire engines had previously served in the Columbia Fire Department’s fleet before being retired from emergency service.

In a statement released Wednesday, Chief Jenkins said, “The Department is excited to be able to donate these apparatuses which will be used to hone the student’s firefighting skills and learning experience by using real world fire equipment.” The firefighter program at the The Center in Irmo, along with a number of similar programs throughout the state of South Carolina, work to provide the skills and certifications necessary for students to pursue a career in the fire service upon graduation and turning 18 years of age.

The South Carolina State Firefighters’ Association, the South Carolina Fire Academy and the South Carolina Department of Education collaborated to develop these Firefighter programs for the state’s career and technology centers and high schools as resources for recruiting and training future firefighters for career and volunteer departments in South Carolina.