For the second consecutive year, DeKalb County Fire Department has been named, by the Tennessee Fire and Codes Academy (TFACA), as one of the Elite Club members that attained over 1,000 student contact training hours. For FY 2008-09, there are 42 of the state’s approximately 700 fire departments that met the requirements to join the “Elite Club” and DeKalb County Fire Department ranked # 28, with 1,288 student contact hours.
According to DeKalb County Fire Chief Donny Green, “the 1,288 hours only includes a portion of the larger amount of training hours that our firefighters have attended. We have specialized training courses, such as vehicle extrication/rescue, wild land firefighting, CPR, medical first responder, and monthly training drills, that our firefighters complete which accounts for over 3,000 department training hours annually.”
Chief Green says that he credits much of the department’s training program success to Asst. Chief Roy Merriman who coordinates and manages the training activities for the department’s 11 stations and 70 volunteer firefighters. “The fact that we are ranked # 28 on this list, which is mostly full-time paid fire departments, speaks volumes about our training program and the commitment our volunteer firefighters have; especially when you consider that 19 of the 27 departments ranked above DeKalb County Fire Department are full-time paid departments whose firefighters are actually on the clock when they are training. Our volunteer firefighters are doing their training on their own time, on nights and weekends when they are not at their paying jobs”, says Chief Green.
DeKalb County Fire Department continues to seek committed volunteers who are willing to serve their communities. If you are interested in becoming a volunteer firefighter, contact the department at 615-464-7176, or visit the department’s website at www.dekalbfire.com to submit an online application.
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