The Fire Wire Cherokee County Office of Fire & Emergency Services March - April Volume 13 - Issue 1 Fire Wins Guns and Hoses Run Story on page 8
Published bi-monthly by the Cherokee County Office of Fire and Emergency Services Tim Prather Fire Chief Tim Cavender Editor Eddie Robinson Assistant Fire Chief Greg Erdely Field Operations Chief Barry Gibson Fire Marshal Kevin Botts Support Services Manager Jill Mabley, M.D.,FACEP Medical Director Cherokee County Office of Fire and Emergency Services 150 Chattin Drive Canton, GA 30115 Phone: [678] 493-4000 Fax: [678] 493-4034 www.cherokeecountyfire.org Office Hours: Monday through Friday 8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M. Closed Saturday, Sunday and Holidays ABOUT THE COVER: Cherokee County Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson, and Zach Blend with the Goshen Valley Boys Ranch holds the winning trophy. Photos and Story on page 8 The Fire Wire Page 2 Spring cleaning doesn t have to be such a chore, especially when you get motivated by knowing that the following spring cleaning activities will help to keep your kids safe. Medicine Cabinet Your medicine cabinet is not meant to be a storage area for all of the medicines that your child has ever been prescribed. For whatever reason, parents do seem to end up having left-over or half used prescriptions in their medicine cabinet though. Spring cleaning is a good time to remove outdated prescriptions. Smoke & CO Detectors If you didn t replace the batteries in your smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors at the start or end of daylight saving time, now is a good time to do it. It is also a good time to test your smoke alarms and CO detectors, although you should be doing that each and every month. You can also this time as a reminder to review and rehearse your family s fire escape plan. Broken Toys Many parents use spring cleaning as an excuse to go through and get rid of toys that their kids no longer play with, but you can also use it as a time that you check the toys that they do still play with and get rid of those that are broken and can t be repaired. When considering toy safety, you should be especially watchful for: splinters or sharp edges on wooden toys weak or loose parts that could fall off and become a choking hazard broken pieces leaking batteries loose screws and bolts, especially on things like playground equipment and ride on toys (bicycles, scooters, skateboards, etc.) loose or exposed wires in electrical toys Childproofing Time for Spring Cleaning Even if your home is well childproofed, with latches on cabinets, gates on stairs, and covers on door knobs, you do have to regularly inspect them to make sure they are still working properly. Cabinet and drawer latches and locks are especially prone to wear and tear, which may allow your child to get in them and to any unsafe items you have stored in them.
Local Marine Honored With New Home Emergency Services honored a United States Marine on January 30th during ceremonies held at Harmony on the Lakes Subdivision in Holly Springs. The Marine, Staff Sgt. David Payton, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps in July 2001 as an Infantryman immediately after graduating from McEachern High School in Powder Springs, Georgia. Payton was assigned to 3rd Battalion 8th Marines at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. During his military service, Payton deployed to Japan, Haiti, Republic of Georgia and Iraq. While in Iraq on Iraqi Election Day in 2005, his compound was hit by a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG). The RPG struck a chemical tank near Payton and it exploded, immersing him with a chemical that was believed to be ammonia. The ammonia severely burned his eyes, his lungs, airways and body. Payton was medically evacuated to Brooke Army Medical Center (BAMC) in San Antonio, Texas, along with three other Marines. While at BAMC, he was in a coma for two weeks as well as on life support, leaving his doctors and his family with little hope that he would survive this uncommon injury. Page 3 Staff Sgt. David Payton In December, 2014, the Paytons were surprised with the news that they were receiving a new home at Harmony at the Lakes thanks to the PulteGroup Built to Honor program and Operation Finally Home. Today, David, his wife, Heather and his seven children arrived at 706 Lorimore Pass in the Harmony on the Lakes Subdivision to assist with the groundbreaking ceremony for his new home. Emergency Services sent Ladder 24 to the event to hoist an American Flag at the end of the ladder. The Emergency Service Honor Guard was also present for the presentation of the colors for the event. Emergency Services was honored to be a part of this awesome event! PHOTO AT LEFT - Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services Honor Guard present colors.
First Place Trophies for Cherokee County Fire Explorers Attending the Winterfest Competition this year were: (First Row - left to right) FAO Michael Sims, FF Trent Nations, FAO Jordan Seda, Sgt. Mike Caglioni, Battalion Chief Tom Pellitier, Sgt. Stan Ice, FF Michele Ice, Sgt. Brad Gravitt, Fire Chief Tim Prather Second Row: Lake Arrowhead Chief Rebecaa Strobl, Operations Chief Greg Erdely, Lt. Scott Deal, Assistant Fire Chief Eddie Robinson, Cadet FF Ashton White,Cadet FF Emily Blackwell, Cadet FF Ethan Sanders, Cadet FF Chris Caglioni, Cadet Sgt. Nick Leslie,Cadet Sgt. Josiah Gnanamuttu, Cadet FF Zach Robinson, Cadet FF Sujki Jules, Cadet Lt. Kenny Robinson, Cadet FF Chad Barday, Cadet FF William Logan, Captain Bill Hamby Third Row: Cadet Sgt. Jake Pohlman, Cadet FF Zach Ray, Cadet FF Brendan Schmitter, Cadet FF Dalton Hamby, Cadet FF Sarah Logan, Cadet Captain Chris Simmons, Cadet FF Morgan Leslie, Cadet Lt. Brooke Ice, Cadet FF Chris Dawson, FAO Destiny LaBossiere, FF Corey Deal Page 4 Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services Explorer Post 469 departed Thursday, February 5th, for Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for the 41st Annual Winterfest Competition. The competition took place on Saturday, February 7th, at the Gatlinburg Convention Center with over 3,400 Explorers and Venturers from 17 states attending the event this year. This was the 14th year that the local post has attended the event. Post 469 brought 21 youth and 14 advisors to this event. Also in attendance from our department were Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson, and Operations Chief, Greg Erdely. Many friends and family members of Post 469 attended the event as well. Explorers Post #469 came home with some well-deserved awards including 1st and 2nd Place in the Z-Drag competition, 1st and 4th Place in the Table Top Display competition, and 5th Place in the Cherokee Drill Competition. The Z-Drag competition consisted of a team of 4 explorers who had to rescue a victim using technical rescue techniques in a timely yet precise manner. The Table Top Display competition involved the explorers using their knowledge and marketing techniques to share their passion about the fire service. One of the local teams display was about the explorer post and the many things it has to offer while the other display was about fire prevention, safety, and suppression systems. Both displays were presented by the explorers to the judges and many of the attendees at the event. The Cherokee Drill, which was hosted by the Cherokee County Fire Explorer Post 469, is a timed event involving a team of 4 explorers in a relay type drill who had to perform tasks such as quick dress, forcible entry, hose deployment, hose crawl, victim removal, and egress through a restrictive passage. The completion times between 1st and 5th place in this event were only a few seconds apart. (story continues on page 5)
First Place Trophies for Cherokee County Fire Explorers (continued) Page 5 In addition to the competition, the local Explorer Post Honor Guard presented the Nation s and the State of Georgia s colors at the awards ceremony on Saturday night. This was the 10th time the post has had this honor. The Honor Guard was accompanied by Cadet Firefighter, Dalton Hamby, who sang The National Anthem. The explorers began training for this year s Winterfest back in September 2014. They averaged 7-10 hours of training per week and were mentored by career and volunteer firefighters who serve the Explorer Post without financial compensation as Advisors and Associate Advisors. The explorer program is a career based leaning opportunity and is open to young men and women ages 14 (and completed the 8th grade) and not yet 21 years old with an interest in learning more about careers in the field of Fire & Emergency Services. The Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services Explorer Post features a hands-on program that exposes participants to many career experiences, leadership opportunities, and community service activities. The primary goals of the program are to help young adults choose a career path within fire and emergency services and to challenge them to become responsible citizens of their communities and country. For more information about Explorer Post #469 you can contact Advisor Michael Sims at 678-644-1377 or by email at mrsims@cherokeega.com Cherokee County Fire Explorers (left to right) Cadet FF William Logan, Cadet FF Ashton White, Cadet FF Morgan Leslie, and Cadet Sgt. Josiah Gnanamuttu compete in a medical event where they treat a trauma patient with a gunshot wound to the chest. Cherokee County Fire Explorers remove patients from a vehicle in the extrication event. Cherokee County Fire Explorer Post #469
Page 6 Eleven new fire recruits graduated from firefighter recruit school during ceremonies held on Friday night, January 30th, at the Sequoyah Grand Ballroom located in the Cherokee County Administrative Offices. The evening began with an invocation by Fire Chaplain, Don Williams, followed by the presentation of colors by the Cherokee County Fire Honor Guard and the singing of the national anthem by Rebecca Carlisle. The key-note speaker for the evening waschief Michael Moe Baxter of the Chatsworth Fire Department. Before the presentation of the certificates of completion, a couple of the recruits received special awards. The recipient of the Pinnacle Award for striving to reach the top due to dedication and hard-work in the Firefighter Recruit School Class was Eleven Graduate From Firefighter Recruit School in January Fire chiefs and recruits attending the ceremony were (Front row - left to right) : Justin Sanders, Charles McCormick, Bradley Hindmon, Michael Axford, Grace Robertson, Drew Turner and Cody Caviness. (Back row - left to right) Sgt. Jason Williams, Lt. Scott Deal, Richard Reed, Robert Steuer, Michael Thomas, Reginold Thurmon, Operations Chief Greg Erdely, Assistant Fire Chief Eddie Robinson and County Fire Chief Tim Prather. presented to Michael P. Thomas. The W. Clark Waters Jr. Honor Graduate Award was presented to Richard B. Reed. The award was named on behalf of Clark Waters, a Cherokee County firefighter, who passed away in 2004. Roberts was given the award in recognition of excellence in academics and leadership. L. B. Buzz Ahrens, Chairman of the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners came forward to say a few words. Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson, came forward and congratulated the new recruits and welcomed them to Cherokee County. Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, encouraged the recruits to keep their faith, family and job as their main priority in their life. Chief Prather then asked the recruits to come forward for the firefighter oath and the presentation of their certificates of completion. Those recruits receiving certificates were: Michael A. Axford, Cody D. Caviness, Bradley M. Hindmon, Charles H. McCormick, Richard B. Reed, Grace H. Robertson, Justin E. Sanders, Robert J. Steuer, Michael P. Thomas, Reginold L. Thurmon and Andrew D. Turner Tim Prather, Cherokee County Fire, The final comments of the graduation came from Lt. Scott Deal. Chief, speaks to the recruits. (continued on page 7)
Page 7 Eleven Graduate From Firefighter Recruit School in January (continued) Sgt. Jason Williams (right) presents the Pinnacle Award to Michael Thomas. Lt. Scott Deal presents the Clark Waters Award to Richard Reed. Featured Speakers at the Recruit Graduation included... Buzz Ahrens, Chairman of the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners speaks. Moe Baxter from the Chatsworth Fire Department was the keynote speaker. Cherokee County Assistant Fire Chier, Eddie Robinson, talks to the recruits.
Fire and Emergency Services Win Gun and Hoses Run Page 8 Emergency Services won the 2015 Guns and Hoses Run that was held on February 28th at Hobgood Park. Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services had the most runners to sign up for the event, plus the overall runner for the event was a member of the Hoses team, too. Members of the Goshen Valley Boys Ranch have a photo taken with the winning trophy. Emergency Services and the Cherokee County Sheriff s Office solicit registrations from runners to raise money for charity. The event was open to the public and runners were asked to pick the team they wanted to run for, Guns or Hoses, and part of their registration fee was donated to an area charity. The fire department donated their winnings to the Goshen Valley Boys Ranch. The purpose Goshen Valley Boys Ranch, which is located in Salacoa, is to provide hope and a family-model home for boys who do not have either. According to a representative with the Cherokee County Recreation and Parks Agency, 360 runners signed up for the fire department, while 269 signed up with the sheriff s office. The Goshen Valley Boys Ranch will receive a check in the amount of $3,600. Eighteen year old Sam Harp, the overall winner of the 5K race and a member of the Hoses team, finished the race in 17 minutes and 17 seconds beating his time last year by 50 seconds. This is the fourth year straight that Sam has been the overall winner of the race. Sam is the son of Lyle and Cheri Harp. Sam s dad is a firefighter with Emergency Services. Thanks all of those who came out to support this event! PHOTO TO RIGHT: This was the fourth year in a row that Sam Harp, a member of the Hoses team, was the overall winner of the race.