Charleston Fire Department working to improve diversity

CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCSC) - The Charleston Fire Department is inviting consultants to submit potential plans to improve diversity, equity and inclusion among its team members.

Those proposals need to provide guidance for better hiring, promotional and culture practices to attract, develop, and retain highly skilled and motivated individuals from within the community.

Fire Chief Dan Curia established the department’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Department when he stepped into his position in 2018. The objective is to better mirror the diversity of the community the agency serves.

Curia says the community played a big part in helping make this department possible in a department in which 93% of firefighters are white males.

“We can always do things better. And one of the ways that we can serve better is to make sure that we reflect the community. So, this is part of an effort,” Curia said. “That’s not a short-term fix. It’s a long-term effort for the fire department to make sure we’re engaged with the community and reflect the community so we can best serve the community.”

Curia says it’s also important for people to identify with the department.

“For people to look at the firefighters in the fire apparatus that are going up and down the streets of the City of Charleston,” he said. “And especially if it’s a small child, I want that child to be able to look up, see the firefighters on the apparatus, see somebody that they can really identify with and think, you know, that’s a career for me.”

If you are a consultant and are interested in submitting for the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Department click here.

Consultants have until 1 p.m. on Sept. 26 to submit their plans. Once plans are submitted, the committee expects it to take roughly a week to select the best candidate.

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