Lee Bailey

Biography

Chief Lee Bailey was born and raised in Charleston, South Carolina where he graduated from Stratford High School in 2006.  During his childhood, he was highly active in sports, participating in swimming, baseball, football, wrestling, and even gymnastics.  Right out of high school, Chief Bailey immediately went into the construction field, actively involved in construction projects such as the MUSC Chest Pain Center in downtown Charleston, the Charles B. Dubose Middle School in Summerville, the Cane Bay Middle School on Cane Bay Blvd. as well as many other projects. 

Chief Bailey started his career in the fire service in 2009 at Whitesville Fire Department and started his career with the City of Hanahan Fire & EMS as a Firefighter / EMT in January 2011.  While working both fire departments, he worked hard to advance his education and training, achieving hundreds of certifications, including, an Associates of Science in Fire Science, and a Bachelor of Science in both Fire Administration and Fire Investigations with honors from Columbia Southern University.  Throughout his career with the City of Hanahan Fire & EMS, Chief Bailey succeeded through the ranks, being promoted to Engineer in 2014, Captain in 2015, Battalion Chief in 2016, and served as Interim Fire Chief June 2022 to January 2023.  

As a Battalion Chief of A-Shift and the departments training officer, Chief Bailey worked hard to develop and lead his team to success.  Notably, the entire leadership of the City of Hanahan Fire & EMS (Michael Bargeron; Assistant Chief, William Lindler; Battalion Chief, Timothy Gros; Battalion Chief, Kyle Finneran; Captain, Jackson Kackley; Captain, and Christopher Evans; Captain) all advanced in their careers, initially starting as a Firefighter / EMT assigned to A-Shift, led by Chief Bailey.