Rehab is for quitters. That's the slogan floating around the Charleston City Fire Department and its outraged some firefighters who say their own training chief made it up. Firefighters say the stickers were sold by the Department's Training Chief, Battalion Chief Ricky Shriver. The firemen say the slogan is a way to tell other local departments, we're tougher than you because what the rehab refers to is a national standard Charleston doesn't use.
It's a National Fire Protection Association guideline. NFPA 1584 to be exact. It refers to a fire department having incident scene rehabilitation at active fires and at training. The guideline recommends medical evaluations and rehydration for firefighters working the blaze. But Charleston firefighters say the closest thing the City does to follow this guideline, is provide a jug of water strapped to the side of a truck.

The anger about the sticker is just the latest on a long list of complaints from City firefighters. Charleston firefighters past and present, also fire service individuals across the Country, and average citizens continue to weigh in with their share of criticism about Chief Rusty Thomas and Mayor Joe Riley.

"This administration keeps acting like we just lost a football game. We lost nine brothers, fathers, grandfathers and friends," an anonymous person wrote in an email.

Another was outraged by one of Riley's recent responses.

"Are you saying you don't believe those who don't have the same vision?" Asked Reporter Sarah DeMarco. "No. I don't believe them. I believe Chief Thomas is the man for the job," said Mayor Joe Riley of the City of Charleston.

The viewer said, "he doesn't believe them, he doesn't believe them, yet the citizens are supposed to believe him for the election. This is disgusting."

Several firefighters have said they question the City's ISO class one rating. A city spokeswoman confirmed ISO was in town last week. She says the discussions were about fire hydrants added to newly annexed land on Daniel Island. She didn't know if anything else was discussed. Chief Thomas heads to Maryland this week for training on new procedures recommended by the City's Fire Task Force.