Office of State Fire Marshal

Public Fire Education and Data Management
Division of Fire and Life Safety

Goal
The goal of the Public Fire Education and Data Management Section of the Office of State Fire Marshal is to coordinate statewide fire safety efforts aimed at reducing fire fatalities in South Carolina. In this role, this section provide programs and services on a statewide basis and providing support and assistance to all fire department and other agencies involved in public education.

Background
Throughout the 1980’s, South Carolina historically ranked among the top three states in the nation having the highest fire related deaths, often ranking in first place. Many factors attributed to this ranking: the vast rural areas with volunteer fire services, low educational levels, and high poverty levels. In 1988, under the leadership of Governor Carroll Campbell, $50,000 was appropriated to combat the seriousness of fire fatalities, beginning the first statewide initiatives of public fire education. It was determined that the need for statewide coordination is critical in that approximately 45 percent of South Carolina’s population lives in rural areas served mostly by all-volunteer fire departments. Without full-time staff dedicated to fire prevention, these citizens are largely underserved. Departments with full-time public fire safety educators are an exception.

Statistics point out that the public fire education has made a significant impact on today’s fire death experiences. In 1988, 168 fire fatalities were reported, while in 2002, 92 fire fatalities were reported. More importantly, is the break in the upward fire death trend experienced in the early 1980’s. There has been an overall downward trend in fire fatalities since 1988, when the first statewide fire education effort began. This is reflected by the graph below.