Photo – Before their peers from across the state, sixteen members of the Columbia-Richland Fire Department were honored for their work during closing events at this year’s South Carolina Fire-Rescue conference.
By Michael DeSumma
CRFD 1st Shift crews on Engine 1, Rescue 1, Engine 6 and Ladder 7 were selected to receive the Meritorious Award of the South Carolina State Firefighters Association. The award is presented to firefighters or fire departments, which have rendered services beyond the ordinary course of duty in an attempt to save a life.
All four companies took actions to rescue a man following a fiery motor vehicle accident that happened on I-126 in Columbia in March 2025. Many of the firefighters who were involved in the rescue were presented with the award during the conference’s awards banquet and transfer of command ceremony June 13 in Myrtle Beach.
Honorees who were unable to attend the ceremony received their awards during a presentation at CRFD Headquarters June 17.
“Our firefighters overcame a lot of challenges when they responded to that call last year,’’ said Columbia-Richland Fire Chief Aubrey D. Jenkins, “The car involved left I-126 where the interstate spans the Broad River. After it left the roadway, the vehicle plummeted off the bridge, crashed near the riverbank below and caught fire on impact. Companies who were first on scene had to come up with an effective response plan quickly to give them the best chance to save this man’s life.’’
Responding crews were able to get access to the crash site using the city’s river walk. Firefighters also worked from the bridge above to put out the vehicle fire and repel down needed supplies to the scene.
“We had Ladder 7 there and they ended up repelling down with some equipment to help assist the guys who were already down there working on the entrapment.’’ Rescue 1 Captain Chris Byrd said the day of the incident, “We took (the driver) down the riverwalk. EMS actually drove the ambulance straight towards (the scene).’’
Crews were able to extricate the driver from the vehicle and hand him off to Richland County EMS for transport to an area hospital. He would go on to survive the incident. Following a lengthy hospital stay, multiple surgeries and physical therapy, he has been able to recover and regain his mobility through use of a prosthetic. He was on hand to congratulate the firefighters at the awards banquet.
“I am truly proud of the work our members put together in their response to this call,’’ Chief Jenkins, ‘’it demonstrates the constant training that our firefighters undertake and how that training and dedication to their crafts pays off. They truly are deserving of this honor for the difference they made on that fateful day last year.’’
This is the second time in four years that CRFD firefighters have been recognized with the Meritorious Award. During SCSFA’s conference in 2022, companies with the department received two of the awards. Nine CRFD firefighters received one award for their work rescuing a mother and her child from a fast-moving house fire that happened in February of 2021. Both victims were found unconscious in the home by firefighters and quickly moved out of the structure through a window as conditions inside deteriorated. Firefighters then began performing CPR on both patients until EMS transported them from the scene. While the child unfortunately passed away days later the mother did survive the incident.
The second award was presented to CRFD 1st Shift crews that responded to a water rescue on the Broad River in August of 2020. The incident unfolded when a teenage boy fell on the low head dam near the Columbia Canal and his foot became entrapped in rocks and debris beneath the surface of the water. Fire crews worked for a period of several hours to free the teen and get him to safety all while the water level on the river was rising and weather conditions deteriorated. The teen escaped the incident with no injuries.