Remembering Chief Wayne Gibson

Several of us traveled to Denmark today for Chief Wayne Gibson’s funeral. Chief Gibson succumbed to burns suffered this past weekend in a propane explosion while he was offloading propane at an industrial site in Summerville.  Even though he was working on his regular job as a truck driver, his firefighter training enabled him to shut off the valves supplying the propane and prevented many other injuries or death to others in the area. Chief Gibson is a hero in every sense of the word and while it was certainly a sad day, it was heartwarming to witness the large turnout of firefighters who came to pay their respects to him and his family. While it is always difficult to understand the tragedies we face far too often, standing together to honor a fellow firefighter is a true measure of our commitment to our community and to each other. I am proud to be a member of this great fraternity of men and women of the South Carolina Fire Service.