The Fire Wire Cherokee County Office of Fire & Emergency Services

Transcription

1 The Fire Wire Cherokee County Office of Fire & Emergency Services Volume 17 - Issue 3 May-June Northwest Georgia Region 1 EMS Advisory Council Cherokee County EMS BEST in Region Story on page 7 Northwest Georgia EMS Systems Inc

2 Published bi-monthly by the Cherokee County Office of Fire and Emergency Services The Fire Wire Burn Ban Now in Effect Page 2 Tim Prather Fire Chief Tim Cavender Editor Eddie Robinson Assistant Fire Chief Shane West Field Operations Chief Danny West Division Chief Dean Floyd Division Chief Chad Arp Fire Marshal Jill Mabley, M.D.,FACEP Medical Director Cherokee County Office of Fire and Emergency Services 150 Chattin Drive Canton, GA Phone: [678] Fax: [678] Office Hours: Monday through Friday 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Closed Saturday, Sunday and Holidays ABOUT THE COVER: Cherokee County EMS was recognized as the best EMS service in the Region by the Northwest Georgia Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council. Photos and story on page 7 The Environmental Protection Division (EPD) ban on open burning resumes May 1 of each year. The latest release from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Environmental Protection Division, Air Protection Branch lists 54 counties that are subject to following the annual burn ban. According to Cherokee County Fire Marshal, Chad Arp, The burning ban is an important part of the state s plan to improve air quality during smog season, which runs from May 1 through September 30 of each year. Citizens and businesses in the affected 54 counties are not allowed to burn yard and land-clearing debris during the burn ban season. Some actions, such as campfires and agricultural activities are exempt. For more information about alternatives to burning such as composting and chipping, please call the Department of Community Affairs at or the Pollution Prevention Assistance Division toll-free at Debris can also be hauled to a commercial processing/grinding/composting operation or to an inert or construction and demolition landfill. For a list of landfills in your area, please call EPD s Solid Waste Management Program at Cherokee County Citizens can get more information on the open burning ban by calling the EPD Mountain District Office: or EPD s Air Protection Branch at Small businesses can get help and information by calling EPD s Small Business Assistance Program toll-free at

3 Page 3 Cherokee Fire Explore Becomes Eagle Scout Cherokee County Fire Explorer Cadet, Gene Kachele, Jr., recently received the Eagle Scout rank from the Boy Scouts of America during a formal ceremony called the Court of Honor. On Monday night, April 23 rd, Kachele received the highest achievement attainable in the Boy Scout program. At this event, Kachele recognized Sgt. Michael Sims, an advisor for the Cherokee County Fire Explorer Post # 469, with the Eagle Scout Mentor Award. This award is for any nonparent who was instrumental in the youth earning his Eagle Scout rank. According to Kachele, Attending the Eagle Scout ceremony were Kachele s father Gene Kachele, Sr, (left) and his mother, Sharon (right). During a difficult time in my scouting and exploring career, Sgt. Sims encouraged and motivated me to stay on tract and complete what I had begun. It was because of this positive mentoring that I wanted to recognize Sgt. Sims with this honor. According to Sims, Kachele continues to stay active in our post, his troop and scouting s honor society, The Order of the Arrow. The designation Eagle Scout was founded over one hundred years ago and less than 2% of boys who join scouting achieve this rank. Firefighter Visits Pre-School A Cherokee County firefighter, Lt. Brady Cornelison, took time out of his busy schedule on March 12th to visit with children at The Carpenter Shop, a Christian pre-school, located at 367 Green Drive, in the Keithsburg community. Cornelison was a part of Community Helpers Week that is held every March at the school. According to Gina Chambers, one of the teachers at the school, He (Brady) is so good with the kids and the children love it, Lt. Brady Cornelison visits with the children at The Carpenter Shop. Brady s son, Brock, wears his dad s firefighter gloves. After speaking with the children about his job and fire safety, Brady took the children outside to get to a close-up view and tour of a ladder truck. Brady s son Brock currently attends The Carpenter Shop and his daughter, Berkley, will be attending in the fall.

4 Page 4 Lt. Mike Jones Retires from Fire Department Lt. Mike Jones (center) receives his Trumpet from Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather. A retirement breakfast was held Friday, April 20th, for Lt. Mike Jones for over 19 years of service with Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services. Battalion-3, A-Shift hosted a retirement breakfast for Lt. Jones at Station 12 in Waleska. Over twenty crew members attended the breakfast shared stories and memories of working with Lt. Jones. Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, and Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson, also attended with Chief Prather preparing the biscuits and Chief Robinson preparing the sausage gravy. The station crew prepared the remainder of the meal. After the meal, Chief Prather presented Lt. Jones with his retirement Trumpet after and thanked him for his many years of service. Lt. Jones came to work for Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services on January 4 th, He was promoted to Sergeant in 2002 and in 2007 he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. His official retirement date was March 8 th, Explorers Present Colors at Braves Game Cherokee County Fire Explorers Post #469 presented the colors prior to the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets baseball game on Saturday night, April 21st, at Suntrust Park in Cobb County. Sgt. Michael Sims, an advisor for the local explorers group, said, Our explorers joined Boy Scout Troop 304 in leading a parade around the field before the game. After the parade, the Cherokee County Fire Explorers had the honor of presenting our nation s colors on the field in front of the players and thousands of fans. Cadet Fire Lieutenant, Denver Ice, carried the American flag and was accompanied by Cadet Captain, Dalton Hamby, Cadet Firefighter, Fabian Frazzari, Cadet Firefighter, Griffin Hansen, and Cadet Firefighter, Jared MacCracken, along with members of Boy Scout Troop 304. The explorer program is part of the Learning for Life Division of the Boy Scout of America. Saturday night was Scout Night at the Braves and Post 469 enjoyed this honor of representing scouts and explorers from the Atlanta area, added Sims.

5 Page 5 Lt. King, Simmons and Karbach Receive Letters of Commendation Lt. Heath King, a Cherokee County Firefighter, received a Letter of Commendation on April 6 th from Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather. The letter congratulated King and his crew, Jeremy Simmons and Mark Karnbauch for assisting a youth member of our community that may someday become a part of Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services. According to Chief Prather, I received a thank you letter from Coach Joel Schubert, of the Creekview High School boys lacrosse team. The thank you was in regards to a request from his office to help a student, Parker Lindsay of Creekview, with a senior project. The coach reported that Parker has interest to become a firefighter. I understand that you along with two other personnel assisted Parker with his senior project on short notice because of a last minute effort for Parker to get it complete. Coach Schubert indicated that you genuinely provided the needed assistance and was highly impressed with the commitment you displayed while assisting and serving our community. Prather went on to say thank you for a job well done. Cherokee County Firefighters Jeremy Simmons and Mark Karnbach were each presented with a letter of commendation from Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather on April 16 th. Making the presentation were Shift Commander Ryan McElwee, Battalion Chief Fred Dobson and Battalion Chief Brian Ward. Shift Commander Ryan McElwee thanked the firefighters for going above and beyond the call of duty. According to Battalion Chief Fred Dobson, I am proud of the firefighters for being involved in the local community. Dobson went on to say that he wanted to show Simmons and Karnbach how much he appreciates their professionalism. Battalion Chief, Brian Ward, added that he was proud of the fact that they were willing to go the extra mile to help out the citizens of Cherokee County. Congratulations to all for their commitment of helping the youth of our community. Lt. King receives his letter of commendation from Battalion Chief, Ryan Osborne, while Battalion Chief, Fred Dobson, makes his presentation to Karnbach (top right) and Battalion Chief, Ryan McElwee presents the letter to Simmons (bottom right).

6 Page 6 McElwee Receives Fire Chief Certification Ryan McElwee (right) receives his fire chief certification from Dwayne Jamison, President of the Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs on April 10th. leaders and managers of overseeing their departments and personnel, said Dwayne Jamison, President of the Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs. I believe continuing education, coupled with a verified credentialing process, is an integral part of today s fire service. To date there have only been 95 of these certifications awarded, added McElwee. McElwee came to work for Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services on September 25, He was promoted to Battalion Chief in February of 2016 and was promoted to Shift Commander on November 11 th, Congratulations to Ryan McElwee on a job well done! Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services Shift Commander, Ryan McElwee, recently received his Fire Chief Certification at the Georgia Association of Fire Chiefs Spring Executive Session in Savannah, GA on April 10 th. In order for an applicant to receive the certification, they must meet four pre-requisites including holding a Georgia Firefighter Stands and Training Council State Certification in at least one of the current fire service certifications and serving as a minimum of a Battalion Chief or Division Supervisor. According to McElwee, This certification is earned based on a points system reflecting a combination of education, experience, and years of service. I have been working toward this certification since January of We developed this program to ensure that the fire departments in the state of Georgia have qualified credentialed and professional

7 Northwest Georgia Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council presented Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services with the Northwest Georgia Region 1 EMS Service of the Year Award on March 15th during their annual awards banquet held at the Clarence Brown Convention Center in Cartersville, Georgia. Cherokee EMS Best in Region Page 7 Northwest Georgia Emergency Medical Services Advisory Council provides assistance and recommendations to the Georgia Office of EMS in regards to the development and continued emergency medical services in 16 counties in northwest Georgia. According to Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services Division Chief, Danny West, This award is presented to the EMS Agency whose nomination scores highest on 11 criteria including standards, protocols, violations, Several Cherokee County Firefighters and administrative personnel attended the awards banquet last night including (left to right): Miguel Castro. Lance Tucker, Paramedic Program Director, Randy Pierson, Cody Fischer, Sgt. Brandon Barton, Chris George, Division Chief, Dan West, Sgt. Dwayne Barbee and Sgt. Val Hice. innovation and community service. The nominations are given to evaluators, who are out of state, to make the selection of the winner. With the leadership and guidance of our Medical Director, Dr. Jill Mabley, Division Chief, Danny West and EMS Program Director, Randy Pierson, Cherokee County continues to be a leader in the state of Georgia when it comes to emergency medical care, stated Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather. The first time the award was presented to the department was in 2008, which is the same year they received the Georgia Emergency Medical Service of the Year Award. The department also received the Region 1 award in PHOTO TO LEFT: David Foster, Northwest Georgia EMS Director, makes the announcement regarding Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services being named Region 1 EMS Service of the Year.

8 Page 8 New Smoke Divers and Flames Recognized Six Cherokee County firefighters were recognized yesterday and today at Fire Headquarters for their completion of the Georgia Smoke Diver and the Georgia Flames courses that were recently held. Matthew Bagley, Christian Kutas, and Matthew Hudson were recognized at Cherokee County Fire Headquarters Geordan Ganka, Eddie Barajas and David Jones were recognized by Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather. of our success rate, he added. Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, presented the firefighters with a Letter of Commendation for completing the courses. Matthew Bagley, Christian Kutas, and Matthew Hudson were recognized at Cherokee County Fire Headquarters on March 27th. Bagley and Hudson were recognized for completing the Flames course and Kutas was recognized for being a new Smoke Diver. On March 28th, Chief Prather recognized Eddie Barajas for completing the Smoke Diver course and David Jones for being the latest Flame and Geordan Ganka was congratulated for attending and completing both courses. Counting the firefighters who were recognized this week, Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services now has 42 firefighters who have completed the Smoke Divers course and 23 who have completed the Flames training. We have certain qualifications that our firefighters have to meet in order for them to go through these courses, said Chief Prather. Once they have met the requirements, we assign them a mentor to help prepare them for the course. Because of this, we have seen this to be a plus in helping our firefighters complete Smoke Divers and Flames and we have heard that other fire departments are looking into our program because The Georgia Smoke Diver course is a six-day, 60 hour program designed for the experienced firefighter who desires realistic training in self-survival, firefighter rescue, advanced search & rescue, thermal imaging, emergency procedures, teamwork, discipline, team leadership, situational awareness and decision making as well as how to function within the elements of the Incident Command System. The program condenses and replicates the extreme demands that may be placed on firefighters at any incident. Emphasis is placed on the day-to-day challenges firefighters face at structure fires, multiple-alarm fires and multiple fires within a single shift. These same principles can be applied to the performance of duties at natural disasters, catastrophic events and acts of terrorism. Coupled with constant situational awareness drills and forced decision making, the candidate gains condensed experience and therefore is able to operate more efficiently and safely at incidents. The Flames course is three days of training that will test an individual firefighter s personal limitations when working in high stress situations with limited recuperation periods. It is also designed to test the individuals ability to function as part of a team. Teambuilding is a focal point of this course. The successful fire company must always function as a team.