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Friendly Fire chief warns county of low on-scene staffing and long response times
Summary
Friendly Fire Chief Joe Palmer told council the department answered 298 calls in 2025 with an average on-scene staffing of 1.89 for structure fires and a countywide average of 2.45; average county response time to get a county-owned vehicle on scene was reported as 19 minutes. He urged council to review a countywide plan developed by fire chiefs.
Joe Palmer, chief of the Friendly Fire Department, told Newberry County Council that volunteer emergency responders across the county are stretched and urged council to treat upcoming presentations as a call to action. Palmer provided operational data for 2025 and urged council to regularly ask departments four basic questions about calls, on-scene…
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