Augusta Commissioners are poised to vote on hiring Dekalb County Deputy Fire Chief Antonio Burden as Augusta’s new Fire Chief, but many on the Commission are not happy with what they call a “rushed” process to fill the position.
However, the commissioners who are complaining appear to be in the minority when it comes to a final vote.
MORE: Augusta Fire Chief Finalist Search Already Mired in Controversy
The selection process was so shrouded in secrecy that The Augusta Press, WJBF television station and the Augusta Chronicle have joined together to demand the city release all documents pertaining to the process or face an injunction that would bar the commission from voting to hire Burden.
Over the decades, Augusta has had some questionable people hold the title of “Fire Chief,” with one chief barely escaping a criminal indictment and another who was forced to resign almost at the point of a bayonet.
Over a century ago, Augustans learned a hard lesson that solid leadership in the fire department is necessary to prevent a disaster from occurring.
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On March 22, 1916, a fire was sparked by what was believed to be an unattended iron in a tailor’s shop inside what was then the Dyer Building. The fire would eventually tear through 36 city blocks, devastating the downtown area.
In those days, fire prevention was in its infancy. Buildings had exposed wiring, flammable roof shingles, and a largely untrained fire fighting force was the city’s only defense.
In fact, up until 1890, the Augusta Fire Department basically consisted of one man sitting in a tower at the corner of Greene and 8th Street next to a large bell, known as Big Steve. He would ring Big Steve should he spot flames during his nightly watch.
By 1916, the bell was gone, but there was still little in the way of fire prevention. According to Historic Augusta Director Eric Montgomery, highly flammable cotton bales were stored in the streets or warehoused in buildings that were basically tinderboxes.
One little spark demolished downtown and left 3,000 people homeless.
At first, the fire was moving slowly, and a call was put out to Savannah, Macon, Atlanta and even Charleston. Men rushed to the scene by train, and others brought in their own fire trucks and equipment.
Upon arriving, the firefighters found that their hose couplings did not fit, and for the ones that did work, the weak water pressure produced nothing but a trickle. As the wind built up and the fire spread, they were forced to just stand back and watch the city burn.
In the aftermath, Augusta leaders began to take fire prevention seriously and began to build up a serious fire-fighting force to avoid another disaster.
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In the decades to follow, the position of fire chief would evolve into more of a political administrative post, and as long as the chief’s political cronies were satisfied, the chief was master of his fiefdom. He could do as he pleased.
Although he only served from 1997 to 2000, Fire Chief Ronnie Few’s administration was such a disaster that a grand jury was empaneled in 2002 to sift through the ashes. Their conclusion was that Few mismanaged taxpayer funds and ran the department like a “bandit.”
The mayor at the time, Bob Young, wrote Few a letter of recommendation when he applied to be Washington D.C.’s fire chief. Young later admitted he did that as a means to get Few out of Augusta.
However, Few would return to Augusta and run for mayor himself in 2006.
In 2012, Chris James rose through the ranks to become fire chief and ran the department much as Few and his other predecessors had.
After almost eight years of controversy and complaints, an independent consulting report found the Augusta Fire Department’s turnover rate at twice the national average. That finding sealed James’s fate, and he was forced to resign.
In searching for James’s replacement, the Augusta commission had the opportunity to forge a new path for the Fire Department by holding open interviews and including the public in the process. However, that the city has largely conducted the search behind closed doors. City officials excluded the public from interviews with the four final candidates conducted on April 15.
Scott Hudson is the Managing Editor of The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com.
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