Tag Archives: Columbia Fire Department

Guide to tomorrow’s City Council work session

Columbia City Council meets tomorrow at 9 a.m. for a work session. You can read the agenda by clicking here. Here’s a summary: 1. Ordinance No. 2009-128 This authorizes a lease between Columbia and Open Living Communities for some property at 5406 Farrow Road. Open Living Communities is an assisted living facility that caters to disabled veterans. The city [...]
Posted in Columbia city government | Also tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Benjamin, Finlay like to have the last word

Mayoral candidates Steve Benjamin and Kirkman Finlay keep a close eye on each other. First, it was the fire department. Now it’s hospitality tax funding for the State Museum Foundation. Two weeks ago, City Council voted to confirm its intention to give $1 million in hospitality tax money to the State Museum Foundation over the next [...]
Posted in Columbia city government | Also tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Fire Department adding staff to deal with inspection backlog

Columbia Fire Chief Bradley Anderson says he is hiring four more fire marshals to help with the city’s backlog of commercial fire inspections. As I reported in July, city officials have to inspect 7,700 commercial buildings every year. But because the department only has five fire marshals, they typically only inspect about 3,500 a year. To read [...]
Posted in Columbia city government | Also tagged | Leave a comment

Qualifications for city firefighters

Now that Columbia officials have officially asked Richland County to allow city firefighters to drive county ambulances, all that is left to be done is train firefighters to drive the ambulances. Many people have asked what kind of training firefighters already have. Well, I have an answer for you, according to this document: Current minimum qualifications [...]
Posted in Columbia city government | Also tagged | Leave a comment

City to ask county for EMS policy change

Columbia officials today said they will formally request Richland County to allow city firefighters to drive county ambulances. The policy push comes after a 3-year-old boy died Sept. 17 from the H1N1 virus. EMS officials arrived on and, because the boy was in critical condition, both of the EMS workers had to ride in the [...]
Posted in Columbia city government | Also tagged , | Leave a comment