LODD 360 - FIF002
Charleston, South Carolina

Brandon Kenyon Thompson – Firefighter 5

Fire Fighter Brandon Thompson was born in Mobile, Alabama. He was a four year veteran of the Charleston Fire Department, but had about 11 years of fire service experience. How he'll be remembered: Brandon Thompson was always looking for a grant to buy a thermal imaging camera for the Pine Ridge Rural Fire Department in Berkeley County, where he volunteered for 11 years and was a captain. Memorials made to the Pine Ridge department in his name will be used for that purpose. Brandon Thompson, 27, had been a volunteer at the Pine Ridge Rural Fire Department since he was a teenager but had recently told the guys they probably wouldn't see him around the station as much because he was preparing for a fall wedding. Thompson and Rachel Sheridan were to be married October 7th on Folly Beach. They'd already sent out "save the date" cards. Thompson's chief at Pine Ridge, Ben Waring, was to be the best man. Thompson had been a Charleston firefighter for four years. He had started his career in the fire service at the age of 14. "He had an older brother that was in it and he just kinda tagged along. That's what he decided to do with his career," Waring said. Thompson was too young to fight fires, but he could go along with the Pine Ridge crews to watch and learn, roll hoses and fetch tools. Thompson worked for the Summerville Fire Department before he joined Charleston. He broke his leg while off-duty last year, and he was given a job working in the mechanic shop and testing hydrants. Thompson, also a captain with Pine Ridge, usually stopped by the Myers Road station in Summerville two or three times a week, Waring said. The two spoke by phone just before the fire, mostly about how Thompson needed some time off for his wedding preparations. Thompson was already on his shift at Station 10 off Savannah Highway, known to firefighters as the Five and Dime because it's the home of Ladder 5 and Engine 10. Full-time Mount Pleasant firefighter and Pine Ridge volunteer Jonathan Ryan said Thompson was an aggressive firefighter who would have seen the Sofa Super Store fire as "just another day on the job. He had the skin of an alligator. He wasn't scared of anything."

- Charleston City Report