The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department was recognized Monday night by the Tennessee State Fire and Codes Academy for being tops in the state in training.
Ed Himes, director of the Fire Service Program with the academy, presented the department a special award during the county commission meeting. “Each year the fire academy tracks the number of training hours that each fire department in this state completes. They fall into three categories. The Silver category is a fire department that trains with the fire academy less than 2,000 hours. The Gold is 2,000 to 4,000 hours and the Platinum is 4,000 hours and above.
The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department logged 3,203 hours.
“This year the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department finished number one in the state in the training of volunteer fire fighters and number six in the state of all fire departments, including the big fire departments like Memphis who was in that top category,” said Himes.
“We wanted to meet with you (county commission) and congratulate your department. It speaks volumes of the leadership you have in the fire department here, the commitment of the members, and the dedication and commitment of this group to fund and support your fire department the way you do.”
Assistant Fire Chief Roy Merriman and James Pennington, the training coordinator and training officer accepted the award on behalf of the department.
(Pictured above left to right: Assistant County Fire Chief and Training Coordinator Roy Merriman, Training Officer James Pennington, and Ed Himes, Director of the Fire Service Program of the Tennessee State Fire and Codes Academy) PHOTO BY CALLIE MATTHEWS
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