September-October Volume 17 - Issue 5

Cherokee County Office of Fire & Emergency ServicesThe Fire Wire

Grand Opening Held at Fire Station #1Story on Page 6

Cherokee County Office ofFire and Emergency Services

150 Chattin DriveCanton, GA 30115

Phone: [678] 493-4000Fax: [678] 493-4034

www.cherokeecountyfire.org

Office Hours: Monday through Friday8:00 A.M. - 5:00 P.M.

Closed Saturday, Sunday and Holidays

The Fire WirePublished bi-monthly by the

Cherokee County Office of Fireand Emergency Services

Tim PratherFire Chief

Tim CavenderEditor

Eddie RobinsonAssistant Fire Chief

Shane WestField Operations Chief

Danny WestDivision Chief

Dean FloydDivision Chief

Chad ArpFire Marshal

Jill Mabley, M.D.,FACEPMedical Director

Page 2The Fire Wire

ABOUT THE COVER: Thecurrent and a former fire chieffor Cherokee County, un-couple a hose line to officiallyopen the new Fire Station #1.

Photos and story onpage 7

Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services is asking residents andbusinesses to participate in a satisfaction and input survey now throughNovember, 2018. The Community Stakeholder Survey is designed toprovide an annual baseline of how well the fire department isperforming in the eyes of its customers This will allow the departmentto gauge perceptions on levels of service and will inform the upcomingstrategic planning sessions in alignment with the department’s goal ofcontinuous improvement and to become an internationally accreditedfire department through the Center for Public Safety Excellence andthe Commission on Fire Accreditation International (CFAI).

CFAI Accreditation is an international recognition of achievement. Itshows that the department is performing to industry best practices andis holding itself accountable through an external peer review.Accredited fire departments are often described as being community-focused, data-driven, outcome-focused, strategic-minded, wellorganized, properly equipped, and properly staffed and trained.Accreditation will benefit the department internally by fostering prideamong its members, community leaders, and citizens, and will alsobenefit it externally through the support of and networking with otheraccredited agencies. Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services isactively working toward obtaining this prestigious recognition as part ofthe department’s vision to provide a superior level of emergencyservice by continuing to embrace new technologies, new techniques,national standards and modern research.The survey is open to everyone who visits, works or lives in CherokeeCounty, and will be available through the Cherokee County FireDepartment Website at www.cherokeecountyfire.org until November30th, 2018.”

Fire Department SeeksPublic Input

Page 3The Fire Wire

Chiefs Receive Chief Fire OfficerCertification

Cherokee County Fire &Emergency Services AssistantFire Chief, Eddie Robinson, andField Operations Chief, ShaneWest, recently received their ChiefFire Officer Certification at thejoint conference of the GeorgiaAssociation of Fire Chiefs and theGeorgia State FirefighterAssociation that was held theweek of August 15th, in Dalton,Georgia.

In order for an applicant to receivethe certification, they must meetfour pre-requisites. Thecertification is earned based on apoints system reflecting acombination of education,experience and years of service.

Cherokee County Fire Chief, TimPrather, presented a Letter ofCommendation to the chiefs fortheir accomplishment on August27th at fire headquarters. According to Prather, “You are among the first in the Chief Officer ranks of

Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services to obtainthis achievement. You have demonstrated the

professionalism and dedication it takes to continuepursuit of a very successful career. Through your

dedicated efforts, you have set the example forother officers in this organization to follow as

well….to include myself.”

Cherokee County Battalion Chief, RyanMcElwee, received his Fire Chief

Certification back on April 10th of this year.Along with Robinson and West, these

individuals become the first three to receive theirChief Fire Officer and Fire Chief certifications in the

department. “It is our goal to eventually have all thechief officers certified in our fire department,” added

Prather.

Congratulations to Chief Eddie Robinson and Chief ShaneWest for a job well done!

Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather (left), reads the letters ofcommendation to Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson, and FieldsOperation Chief, Shane West.

Page 4The Fire Wire

Fourteen Firefighters Become ParamedicsFourteen county firefightersrecently became paramedics aftergraduation ceremonies that wereheld August 13th at the CherokeeHall Auditorium located in theCherokee County AdministrativeBuilding.

Captain Scott Deal came forwardto welcome family members andfriends to the ceremony and laterintroduced Chaplain, DanaMcPherson, to give the evening’sinvocation.

Randy Pierson, ParamedicProgram Director, came to thepodium to congratulate the newparamedics. Pierson stated thatthis group had went through 6,924clinical hours of training andperformed 993 pediatricassessments,1,826 adultassessments, 934 geriatricassessments, 514 chest painsand administered 1,062medications, started 1,059 IVsand intubated 150 patients. EMS

Receiving their certificates of completion are (Front row - left to right)Milton Zapeta, Ryan Barker, James Brock, Cody Caviness, GraceRobertson, Ryan Hixson, and Matthew Hutcherson. Second row (left toright) Joshua Germon, Peter Meadows, and Nathan Pelletier. Backrow (left to right) Kevin Hamilton (standing in front of the other twobehind him), Adam Long and Justin Libby. Not pictured is IsaiahJohnson.

Chief, Danny West, also spoke about the huge changes that he has seen over the years with thedepartment and that Cherokee County continues to be a leader in emergency medical field.

Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, spoke to the crowd about a new award that had been establishedto be given to a member of each paramedic class for academic achievement that will be called the Star ofLife Award. The first Star of Life Award was announced and presented by Randy Pierson to Paramedic,Adam Long.

The 14 firefighters who graduated from the paramedic class were asked to come down and receive theircertificate of completion. Receiving their paramedic certification were: Ryan Barker, James Brock, CodyCaviness, Joshua Germon, Kevin Hamilton, Ryan Hixson, Matthew Hutcherson, Isaiah Johnson, JustinLibby, Adam Long, Peter Meadows, Nathan Pelletier, Grace Robertson and Milton Zapeta.

After the presentation of the certificates, Capt. Scott Deal returned to the podium and thanked everyone forcoming and informed the new paramedics that their training and dedicated service to our citizens is whyCherokee County Fire & Emergency Services is one of the top 10 fire and EMS departments in the stateand was also one of the top 100 in the nation.

Congratulations to all of our new paramedics for all their hard work and a job well done.

Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Servicesreceived a nice surprise when the Coca Cola BottlingCompany donated water and Powerade to our localfirefighters.

A transfer truck made the delivery to CherokeeCounty Fire Logistics this afternoon. According toLeigh Ann Spitzmiller, with the Atlanta North MetroSales Center for Coca Cola, “We wanted to supportour local firefighters during the hot summer season,so we have brought 56 cases of water and 20 casesof PowerAde totaling over $500.”

Thanks Coca Cola Bottling Company foryour support of our firefighters.

Page 5The Fire Wire

Battalion Chief Recognized for 30 Years of ServiceCherokee County Fire &Emergency Services recognizedBattalion Chief, Kerry Hughes, forthirty years of service to thedepartment on August 3rd.

Cherokee County Fire Chief, TimPrather, thanked Hughes for hisdedication and service in the firedepartment and presented himwith certificate of appreciation.“Hughes has done an excellentjob for us and we appreciate himfor his devotion and sacrifice thathe has given to our departmentover the years,” stated Prather.Hughes came to work in July of1988 and starting his careerworking at the Little River FireDepartment.

Hughes has seen a lot of changes

Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, reads the Certificate ofAppreciation to Battalion Chief, Kerry Hughes.

in the fire department during those thirty years. “We’ve seen changes in the way you fight fires, plus, wehave seen the introduction of computers to help us, too,” stated Hughes.

Traveling and spending more time with his family are on the top of Hughes’ list when he retires later on thisyear. Hughes lives in the Clayton community with his wife and son.

Congratulations to Kerry Hughes for his thirty years of service to Cherokee County.

Coca Cola Bottling Company Makes Donation

Cherokee County Assistant Fire Chief, EddieRobinson, Special Operations Chief, Shane Westand Fire Chief, Tim Prather thanks Leigh AnnSpitzmiller, with the Coca Cola Bottling Company.

Page 6The Fire Wire

Official Opening of Fire Station #1 HeldThe official Grand Opening andHose Uncoupling Ceremony forthe new Cherokee County FireStation #1, located at 100 OldBascomb Court off Bells FerryRoad, was held on July 24th.

Cherokee County Fire Chief, TimPrather, was the emcee andwelcomed those who attendedthe event. Cherokee County FireChaplain, Dana McPherson,came forward to give theinvocation.

Chief Prather returned to thepodium to recognized severalguests including members of theCherokee County Board ofCommissioners, the CountyManager, representatives fromthe Cherokee County Chamber ofCommerce and former volunteer

firefighters who worked at the old Station # 1. Prather also announced that the new fire station was beingdedicated to Chief Joe Carmichael and Chief Bob Nealey. Fire Station 1 began as the Oak GroveCommunity Volunteer Fire Department in 1973 and it would become the first combination career/volunteerfire department in Cherokee County. Carmichael and Nealey each contributed to over 20 years of service tothe county fire service. Chief Carmichael was the first County Fire Chief and Chief Nealey would succeedhim years later. Chief Prather thanked both chiefs for their contributions to the county and for paving the wayfor the fire service of today.

Chief Nealey was in attendance and was asked to come forward to say a few words. Chief Carmichael, whonow lives in Tennessee, was planning on attending the event but cancelled due to health reasons.

Cherokee County Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson, came forward to give a description of the newfacility. “This station has 10,710 square feet and houses a fire engine, ladder truck and a squad(ambulance). The crews have a total of 12 separate sleeping quarters and bathrooms that allow for bothmale and female firefighters to serve,” stated Robinson.

The new facility was designed to provide outstanding service to our citizens as well as the safety andwelfare of our firefighters including folding doors in the bay where the fire engines are kept, plus, a straightline out of the sleeping quarters that allows for a rapid response when firefighters are called out. There arealso features in the building like exhaust removal from the apparatus bay and separate storage anddecontamination of the firefighter’s protective clothing.

After Robinson’s speech, Chief Prather directed the attendees to the front of the fire station for the unveilingof the station and dedication plaques and the cutting of the ribbon and the uncoupling of the fire hose for the

Former Cherokee County Fire Chief, Bob Nealey, and current fire chief,Tim Prather, cut the ribbon for the official opening of the new FireStation #1.

(continued on page 7)

Page 7The Fire Wire

official opening of Fire Station #1.

At the end of the program, attendees were invited to stay and tour the new facility and enjoy refreshments.

Official Opening of Fire Station #1 Held(continued)

Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, welcomeseveryone to the opening of Station #1.

Cherokee County Commissioner and former firechief, Raymond Gunnin, speaks to the crowd.

Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, andformer fire chief, Bob Nealey, unveil the new plaque.

Former fire chief, Bob Nealey, sits with his familyduring speeches being made at the new fire station.

Page 8The Fire Wire

Young Firefighter from Austria Trains WithLocal Fire Explorers

Cherokee County Fire Explorer Post #469 hosted its 4th AnnualCherokee Fire Explorer Academy that was held in July at the FireTraining Center, located just south of Holly Springs.

Each year the explorers come out for a week full of training thatincludes firefighting techniques, EMS, hazardous materials response,vehicle extrication, physical fitness, drill & ceremonial exercises, andmuch more!

This year there were 15 members from the post participating in theevent. One of the participants is a young lady from Austria. KatharinaTolstiuk, a 16 year old girl from Natschbach, Austria, which is in thenortheastern most state of the nine states in Austria. Katharina is anexchange student who came to Cherokee County this past Saturday.She has been a member of her fire department in Austria since the ageof 10. “My host family knew that I was a firefighter in Austria and theywere looking for fire departments here so I could see the differencebetween America and Austria,” stated Katharina. Katharina is from afamily of firefighters. “My grandfather helped start the fire department inmy hometown and my father and brother are firefighters, too,” sheadded. Katharina has found huge differences in the two firedepartments. “The people are very nice here and everyone was veryfriendly,” she stated. The young firefighter will be attending SequoyahHigh School this year and will return to Austria in June or July of next

year.

Participating in this year’s Fire Explorer Academy were: Denver Ice, Chris Shorts, William Logan, HannahPohlman, Anna Bowyer, Dalton Hamby, Griffin Hansen, Jared MacCracken, Gabriel Shull, Gene Kachele,Brianne Mazzuca, Jason Kuhn, KatharinaTolstiuk, Timothy Waddell, and Andrew Doty.

Katharina Tolstiuk from Austriadrags a hose line up a flight ofstairs.

The Fire Explorer Academy is made possible bythe use of the Cherokee County Fire TrainingCenter and the support of the department’scareer and volunteer Explorer Advisors whocreate and teach the curriculum of the course

The explorer program is a career based leaningopportunity and is open to young men andwomen ages 14 (and completed the 8th grade)and not yet 21 years old with an interest inlearning more about careers in the field of fire &emergency services.For more information about Explorer Post 469you can contact Sgt. Michael Sims at 678-644-1377 or mrsims@cherokeega.com.

Katharina Tolstiuk (center) with her new friends fromFire Explorer Post #469.