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DeKalb Fire Recognized as Elite Department
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Last weekend, 14 members of the DeKalb County Fire Department’s Extrication Team attended a Tennessee Fire and Codes Academy 16-hour advanced extraction course at our Main Station. Members advanced their skills as extrication techs and learned new techniques to add to their knowledge. Pictured, back row from left, are Chief Donny Green, Harley Lawrence, Alex Woodward, Steve Repasy, Robert Sartin, Donnie Johnson, Assistant Chief Anthony Boyd, Instructor Terry Potter, Andy Pack, Blake Reffue, and Instructor Steven Brown. Pictured, front row from left, are Steven Lawrence, Lieutenant Andrew Harvey, Alyssa Harvey, Matt Olsen and Lieutenant Justin Bass.

For the 16th consecutive year DeKalb County Fire Department has been recognized as one of Tennessee’s elite fire departments for outstanding training achievement. DeKalb County Fire Department is ranked #1 among volunteer fire departments in the state of Tennessee for 2023-2024 training achievement. Of the 732 fire departments in Tennessee, both volunteer and career, DeKalb County Fire Department ranked # 18 for 2023-2024 training achievement.

 

This year, the department logged 2,745 training hours at the state fire academy and was recognized as a Gold Level fire department. A complete listing of 2023-2024 Elite Club departments can be viewed at: https://www.tn.gov/commerce/tfaca/news-information/2023-2024-elite-club.html

 

DeKalb County Mayor Matt Adcock commended the department’s members and leaders for continuing to make DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department’s training program a legacy of excellence. “Our county takes great pride in the level of commitment and service that we continue to see year after year from our firefighters who work hard and train hard to make sure our citizens have good fire department services here in DeKalb County. Getting this kind of consistent statewide recognition makes it very clear that we have an excellent group of committed men and women who sacrifice many hours to be prepared to respond to the emergency needs of our citizens,” says Mayor Adcock.

 

Chief Donny Green says he wants to personally commend Lt. Luke Green, the department's Training Officer, and his support staff for their leadership, planning and coordination of the department's training activities in a manner that consistently spotlights our training program as one of top in the state, volunteer and career. The Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy provides excellent training programs delivered by professional and knowledgeable campus and field instructors. In addition to the 2,745 hours at the Academy, our training officer coordinated 1,912.4 hours of in "in-house" training. Chief Green says that without the support of County Mayor Matt Adcock, the County Commission, the families of our volunteer firefighters, our community and business partners and the citizens of DeKalb County, the department could not have achieved this honored recognition. “Properly trained firefighters are the best tools available to any fire department. Without proper training, the best and most expensive equipment is useless. However, good training coupled with good equipment is priceless,” says Chief Green.  Training performance and documentation are core elements in the Insurance Services Office's (ISO) property protection that determine how much property owners have to pay in homeowners insurance premiums.

 

If you are interested in learning more about the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department, or would like information on how to be a member of the DCFD team, you can visit the Department’s website at: www.dekalbfire.com, or call 615-464-7176.  You can also visit the Department’s Facebook group page.