Long-time Chester firefighter Riley L. Cloud was sworn in recently as the new Chester Fire Department Deputy Fire Chief. Cloud was administered the oath of office by Chester City Administrator Malik Whitaker and received his badge from Chester Fire Chief James Jackson in a ceremony recently.
Deputy Chief Cloud was born and raised in Chester S.C. and has lived here his entire life.
He started his career with Chester Fire Department on April 13, 1997 as a volunteer fireman. It had been a life long dream to be a firefighter.
Cloud said in some biographical information, “I was the kid that always chased the fire truck on my bicycle and loved to see the fire trucks go by with the lights and sirens on.
“As I got older my desires changed and I decided I wanted to be an auto mechanic. I took auto mechanics in high school at the career center and furthered my education by attending the two year auto mechanics program at York
“After venturing from the automotive side, I worked at Chester Natural Gas as a service technician,” he said.
He added, “ But still there was a desire inside of me to be a fireman. In 1997 while still working for Chester Natural Gas I became a volunteer fireman. It was a gracious opportunity for me to serve as a volunteer firefighter and I knew for sure that my dream as child was truly what I wanted to do.
“On August 9th 1998, I was hired as a fulltime paid fireman with the Chester Fire Department. I have served at every level in the department. Firefighter, Engineer, Sr. Engineer, Lieutenant, Captain and now the honor of serving as Deputy Fire Chief.
“It has been a great career and I have learned so much by serving on every level. I can truly say that I had some great leaders that helped me along the way and through each person I gained some valuable knowledge. No person is the same and whether they are good or bad but you can always learn something from each person. I have served the department as Fire Prevention Officer since 2007. I love serving the community and talking to people. Public education is and should be very important to a firefighter. We are servants of the people they deserve good quality personnel that they can look up to and believe in,” he said.
“I’m a strong believer in God and love working in my church. I wear a charm around my neck that has my favorite passage of scripture engraved on it which is Philippians 4:13 “ I can do all things through Christ which strengthens
“I have taken numerous classes throughout my entire career to help prepare myself for whatever position I was in and next level that wanted to go to,{“ he said.
The new Deputy Chief had some words of wisdom for new firefighters: “Follow the rules; believe in yourself, never give up on your dreams, do your very best at all times and always do what’s right even if no one is looking. Most importantly, never give up on yourself because all things are possible if you believe in yourself.
“Get up every day and believe that you are somebody and you can make a difference,” Deputy Chief Cloud said.
