Jasper County fire chief, emergency director is retiring after two years in Lowcountry
Jasper County’s emergency services director is set to retire at the end of the month and return home to North Carolina.
Frank Edwards, who also serves as chief of Jasper County Fire-Rescue, was hired as director in February 2018.
Before coming to Jasper County, Edwards worked in fire and rescue services for more than four decades in Virginia and Florida.
“Chief Edwards brought great experience and new ideas to Jasper County, and that paid off in helping us earn nearly $2 million in new grants and donations,” Jasper County Administrator Andrew Fulghum said. “We appreciate all he did to help us move forward, and though we will miss him, we will continue his planning as we move ahead.”
Edwards has been a part of a number of improvement projects in the county, including adding 16 new fire/EMT positions and 28 new volunteers to the department, leading planning for construction of a new fire station, upgrading the department’s training facility, and obtaining new equipment such as five engines, three ambulances, a ladder truck, and two tankers.
He also developed an Emergency Operations Plan for the county in addition to leading the emergency services response during two hurricanes, the Able Contracting trash fire in Okatie, a malware attack that affected the emergency dispatch, and most recently the coronavirus pandemic.
“It’s been my pleasure and honor to serve the people of Jasper County,” Edwards said. “I believe we’ve made some positive improvements to the Emergency Services Division, but there’s a lot of work still to be done. I wish the team well.”
Edwards said he hadn’t specifically planned to retire in 2020, but that he’s ready to move back to Charlotte to spend time with his wife and son, who stayed there when he took the job in Jasper County.
“There was no set year of when I was looking to be retired,” he said. “Sometimes you just know when it’s time ... . I wanted to be back home.”
After Edwards retires, emergency services deputy director Chief Russell Wells will serve as interim. Wells has worked in the county since 2005 and has served as deputy director since 2011.
Fulghum said a permanent director will be hired after a “full search ... open to both internal and external candidates.”
