Firefighter Program

Chief Jamie Gaddy

Chief Gaddy has been in the Fire service for about 30 years as a volunteer and career. He started his fire career when he was 18 years old, due to a tragedy at 17 with 2 (18) months old twins trapped inside a residential fire. Both 18-month-old children did not survive, and it took a heavy toll on him. He then saw a ad in the paper where a fire department was looking for volunteers and he joined the department. At 24 years old, Chief Gaddy went to Florence/Darlington Tech to become an EMT-Basic in the medical field and a Hazard Material Tech. Throughout the years he learned each part about different officer's position. When he became a Captain (a training Officer) and learned to teach others, it was something he loved doing. After 10 years of being a Training officer, he was promoted to Fire Chief of the Station where his career began. Chief Gaddy then became a Fire Instructor with the SC Fire Academy in 2021 and learned to reach out to more students, other than just in the fire station. “This is my first year of teaching in the school system for High School students and I am hoping to pass down the knowledge I was taught through the fire academy.”