August 29, 2023
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Fire Department received special recognition during Monday night’s County Commission meeting from the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Training Academy to commemorate the unit having been named, for the 15th consecutive year, as an “Elite” Training Department in Tennessee.
Director Jason Sparks presented the award to the DeKalb Fire Department’s outgoing training officer Captain Brian Williams and the incoming officer Luke Green to accept on behalf of the department and DeKalb County.
“Every year we recognize departments across the state. This year, the DeKalb County Fire Department accumulated a total of 1,373 contact hours for training with the Tennessee Fire and Codes Academy,” said Sparks in presenting the award.
According to Sparks, having achieved this level of training is no small accomplishment.
“I have been involved in the fire service for a long time. I am a volunteer fire chief myself in White County. I travel all across this state and see the issue with lack of volunteers every day. It is no small thing to have the number of firefighters that Chief Green and DeKalb County have and to accumulate the kind of hours they did this year in training is remarkable. Just the amount of training they did was a big number, not to mention all the calls they responded to and ways they help their community so I am proud to make this presentation,” said Sparks.
DeKalb Fire Chief Donny Green, who introduced Sparks to the County Mayor and County Commission during Monday night’s meeting said since this was the department’s 15th consecutive year in earning this “Elite” Training award, he wanted to share the good news by having it presented at this forum.
“I wanted to share with you this milestone we have reached in DeKalb County. For the 15th consecutive year, we have been recognized by the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Training Academy as an elite training department in Tennessee,” said Chief Green. “I wanted to share that with you tonight because you (county commission and county mayor) are part of the team that makes this happen along with the citizens and our partners in the county as well as our firefighters who unselfishly take their time especially on weekends, and when they get off work in the afternoons to sit through classes, and of course we appreciate the families of our firefighters who give up their time and sacrifice,” said Chief Green.
A prepared news release by Chief Green states that the DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department has ranked #5 among volunteer and combination fire departments in the state of Tennessee for 2022-2023 training achievement. Of the 732 fire departments in Tennessee, both volunteer and career, the DeKalb County Fire Department ranked # 44 for 2022-2023 training achievement.
This is the 15th consecutive year DeKalb County Fire Department has been recognized as one of Tennessee’s elite fire departments for outstanding training achievement. This year, the department logged 1,373 training hours at the state fire academy and was recognized as a Gold Level fire department in Tennessee for 2022-2023.
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 statewide recognition for the 15th consecutive year 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 said he wants to personally commend Captain Brian Williams and Luke Green, the department’s training officers, 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 1,373 hours at the Academy, our training officers coordinated 1,853.87 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 milestone. “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 owner’s have to pay in homeowners insurance premiums.
The DeKalb County Fire Department’s proven commitment to training and emergency response has resulted in a dramatic improvement to DeKalb County’s Public Protection Classification Rating.
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 our 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.