SPARTANBURG, S.C. — The city of Spartanburg has sent its top firefighter, Chief Pierre Brewton, home on administrative leave while an outside reviewer looks at questions tied to a private company he owns.
City Manager Chris Story notified fire department employees by email and named Assistant Chief Will Smart to lead the department in the interim. Story said the review centers on how Brewton handled a federal Paycheck Protection Program loan.
SLED, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, has confirmed it is looking at tips it received about the loan. Federal records show Brewton’s company, FSC Enterprises, received $169,707 in June 2020, with more than $127,000 earmarked for payroll for four workers and $42,427 for utilities.
In Small Business Administration records the loan is marked as charged off, a status showing it was never paid back, which is different from forgiveness. Brewton has been the registered agent of FSC Enterprises since creating it 18 years ago.
Brewton went to work for the city in 1988 and joined the fire department in 1994. He left as assistant chief in January 2020 to run the fire department in Albemarle, N.C., which is when the loan was issued, and came back to Spartanburg as chief in 2024.
Section: More Spartanburg SC crime news
Filed under: Spartanburg SC Public Safety News
