4.2 Community
The community of Graniteville, South Carolina, is unincorporated and resides within Aiken County. There are approximately 12,000 residents in the area, which also includes the unincorporated communities of Vaucluse and Warrenville.
Aiken County is located on the South Carolina-Georgia border, across the Savannah River from Augusta, Georgia.
The area of Graniteville, Vaucluse, and Warrenville (GVW) has commercial and industrial facilities and includes eight divisions of Avondale Mills (textile manufacturer), the Sage Mill Industrial Park, SKF USA (roller bearings manufacturer), and Bridgestone/Firestone (tire manufacturer).
The community is served by the GVW Fire Department, which is all volunteer, with a total strength of 45 to 50 personnel. Personnel are alerted to calls by the Aiken County 911 dispatchers via voice pagers. In the event of 911 dispatch interruptions, the department has the capability to dispatch from the GVW Fire Department headquarters. However, during the Graniteville incident, the headquarters facility was in the incident zone and not available for use.
The community is also served by the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office and the Aiken County Emergency Services Department.
Map from Mapquest.com
February 6, 2006
Publication #FHWA-HOP-08-014
