County receives top regional teamwork award

Barnwell County was awarded the top regional cooperation award for teamwork by the S.C. Association of Counties (SCAC) for collaboration in extinguishing the 2022 county landfill fire.

Barnwell, Aiken, Beaufort, Dorchester, and Hampton counties were all awarded the 2023 Barrett Lawrimore Memorial Regional Cooperation Award on August 2 during SCAC’s Annual Conference. These counties were awarded for their collective efforts in putting out a fire at the Barnwell County Landfill in two days with no injuries.

“This effort exemplifies regional partnership as each entity worked well with other team members, looked out for the safety of others and followed directions as given by the leaders to mitigate risk and protect human and natural resources,” said SCAC Awards Head Judge Bill Tomes.

The Barrett Lawrimore Memorial Regional Cooperation Award focuses on the importance of regional partnerships, strategies, and solutions.

“This was a huge effort put forth by a lot of individuals, agencies, and construction firms, including county Emergency Management Director Roger Riley, Solid Waste Landfill Director Frank Williams, former Fire Coordinator Timbo Williams, and local firefighters,” said Barnwell County Administrator Tim Bennett.

“The fire took about a day and a half to be fully extinguished and to become a non-threat. I can’t say enough about how rewarding it was to see everyone, both state and local public entities and the private sector, join together to deal with a very volatile situation that could have become a lot worse,” said Bennett.

The landfill began smoldering on Sunday, May 15, 2022 and multiple local fire departments responded to extinguish the flames: Williston, Elko, Long Branch, Blackville, Barnwell Rural, Red Oak, and Barnwell City. The fire was contained later Sunday evening but returned the next day.

“Barnwell County Emergency Management worked quickly to secure assistance in manpower and resources such as bulldozers and dump trucks from other counties and state agencies to stop the fire with dirt,” states an SCAC press release.

In addition to local fire departments and emergency management, landfill employees, Medshore EMS, and S.C. Forestry responded to the scene alongside services from surrounding counties.

“We also learned the importance of technology in the process of getting this fire under control. The Civil Air Patrol provided a drone with infrared cameras to see under the dirt to identify hot spots underground,” said Barnwell County Emergency Operations Center Manager Roger Riley.

“This enabled us to place dirt only on those areas that were still a potential issue. The impact of this project was a benefit to all our citizens as we were able to contain the amount of burning pollution to a minimal amount,” said Riley. “I am honored our county was recognized for this effort, but the main point of sharing our work is to give others ideas or solutions to similar problems they may face.”

This award is open to two or more counties or county partnerships with municipalities. To be awarded, county officials must present both written entries and a 10-minute oral-presentation before a panel of judges.

Earlier this year, Barnwell County was awarded SCAC’s Outstanding Achievement Award for their response to the landfill fire as well.

“The award is not for having your landfill catch on fire,” said Van Henson, director of Risk Management Services with the South Carolina Association of Counties (SCAC), which garnered a chuckle in the crowd at a February county council meeting. “It’s how it was handled and everything was taken care of from them, that was just excellent work with all parties involved.”

Barnwell County has been the recipient of three total SCAC awards this year.