Batesburg-Leesville, SC - The Town of Batesburg-Leesville has announced that Josh Frye has been chosen to be its new Fire Chief. Frye replaces Jay Hendrix who recently accepted the position of Assistant Town Manager for Batesburg-Leesville. Frye has been serving as the BLFD Recruitment and Retention Officer.
Frye is a 1995 graduate of Batesburg-Leesville High School and has nearly 20 years in the fire service, having held many different positions throughout his career. Frye’s career began in the fire service in 1995 as a volunteer with the B-L Fire Department and later served in full-time positions with Clinton Fire Department, Columbia Fire Department, and Lexington County Fire Service.
In January 2018, he returned to Batesburg-Leesville to work full-time as the Recruitment and Retention Officer. His primary duties have been teaching firefighter courses at B-L High School, leading the department’s Explorer Post and leading the training of active volunteers. These activities have led to an increase to the department’s volunteer base over the past year and a half on the job.
Frye was selected from nearly 40 applications from across the country. “We received resumes from many qualified candidates throughout the country.” said Luckadoo. “In the end Josh’s skills, abilities, experiences and knowledge of our department made him the right choice. Josh has done a great job in his current position and we are confident he will continue on the successes our fire department has had in his new position as Chief.”
Chief Frye will begin the role of Fire Chief effectively immediately. His first duty will be to find a qualified replacement to serve in the role of Recruiting and Retention Officer for the department and to continue with the successes of the firefighting class at B-L High School. He will continue to teach the class until the end of the semester to ensure success of the program and a smooth transition into the second semester with the person selected to fill that position.
