Isle Of Palms Magazine Summer/Fall 2018

21 www.IsleOfPalmsMagazine.com | www.ILoveIOP.com | www.IOPmag.com F or 33 years, Ann Graham has been working to save lives and property on the Isle of Palms. As South Carolina’s first female fire chief, she is not one to stand by and tell others what to do; she lives to help people and braves water, wind and fire daily to do so. Graham gives credit to her entire team, saying that they have to do everything a big city does, just with fewer people – everybody on her team specializes in everything. She recalled a serious accident on the Connector years ago involving a little girl and said that the work of her amazing staff, in conjunction with other crews and a medevac, was what kept the child alive. The positive outcome and comments from the family remain in her mind today and inspire her. One of her favorite memories of her job was when Josh Long and Troy Driscoll were found after they were missing at sea for six days in 2005. Though many people suggested that searching was a waste of time, Graham and her team never stopped looking, even when the mode changed from rescue to recovery. The family was only a block away from the fire station when they received the call that the boys were found alive over 100 miles away. “We never stopped looking for them. That’s what this job is all about,” she smiled.