New Fire Engines Arrive Story on Page 4 the Fire Wire Life Jacket Loaner Station

The Fire Wire Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Service September - October Volume 19 - Issue 4

New Fire Engines Arrive Story on page 4 The Fire Wire Life Jacket Loaner Station

Published bi-monthly by Installed Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services

Tim Prather Fire Chief

Tim Cavender Editor

Eddie Robinson Assistant Fire Chief

Shane West Field Operations Chief

Nate Sullivan Attending the dedication were (left to right) Tim Prather, Cherokee EMS Chief County Fire Chief, Lisa Grisham, Senior Fire and Life Educator, Ed- die Robinson, Assistant Fire Chief, Michael D. Huffstetler, Woodstock Dean Floyd Parks and Recreation Director, Sgt. George Williams of Woodstock Fire Division Chief and Rescue and Chris Day, Tow Boat US and Boat US Foundation.

Chad Arp Safe Kids Cherokee County is keeping kids and adults safer this Sum- Fire Marshal mer with a new Life jacket Loaner station installed at Rope Mill Park. With community partners, Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Ser- Jill Mabley, M.D., FACEP vices, Woodstock Fire, Woodstock Parks and Recreation and Boat US Medical Director Foundation the loaner station was dedicated to Woodstock Parks and Recreation on July 30, 2020. Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services The station has life jackets for those that need one to “borrow and 150 Chattin Drie return” while they are boating, kayaking, paddle boarding or canoe- Canton, GA 30115 ing. It also offers education on how to properly fit a life jacket. ater W Phone: (678) 493-4000 Safety is one of many injury prevention initiatives offered through Safe Fax: (678) 493 4034 Kids Cherokee County. Spokesperson and Coalition Coordinator, Lisa Grisham says, “We know life jackets save lives. By providing these for www.cherokeecountyfire.org the community, we hope to ensure those who might not have a life jack- Office Hours: Monday through Friday et or possibly forgot their own will be able to stay safe on the water.” 8:00 AM - 5:00 PM Closed Saturday, Sunday and Holidays Safe Kids Cherokee and Boat US Foundation will continue to supply life jackets for the loaner station as needed and Woodstock Parks and ABOUT THE COVER Recreation will maintain it. CCFES Chief Tim Prather states, “This is a A wet down ceremony was great example of our community coming together to provide a service recently held for six new fire that encourages use of our parks and helps prevent injury or death.” engines that were delivered to Cherokee County. Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services serves as the lead agen- Story on page 4 cy for Safe Kids Cherokee County. For more information about Safe Kids visit their website at safekidscherokeecounty.org or call 678-493- 4343. 2 Firefighters Participate in Still Water Class During the month of June, firefighters with Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services participated in a Still Water Class at the Cherokee County Aquatic Cen- ter and Victoria Day Use Area.

The 16-hour course provides the skills needed to enhance rescue operation on the waterways in Chero- kee County. According to Fire Training Officer, Robbie Kennedy, “With an increase in call volume on our waterways, this training is an essential part of our personnel’s safety as well as our citizens.”

The skills taught in this class are meant to provide a minimum skill set to enable our personnel to perform during these types of water emergencies. Properly donning personal flotation devices, deploying rope bags, towing victims in from the water and patient packaging while in the water were all topics that were taught and demonstrated in this class.

Kim Whatley and her staff at the Aquatic Center are always accommodating and extremely professional, added Kennedy.

The class is typically taught in the spring, but, due to the recent outbreak of the pandemic, it had to be post- poned. The course taught firefighters the skills needed to enhance rescue operations on the waterways. Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services is very lucky to have some of their own firefighters who have the skills and the knowledge to teach the course. Lead instructors were Frankie Martinez, Jeff Adamek, John Bennett, James Lussier and Robbie Kennedy.

3 Wet Down Ceremony Held for New Fire Engines Cherokee County Fire and Emer- gency Services held a “wet down” ceremony on July 21st at the Cherokee County Administrative Offices for six new fire engines.

Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, told the Commis- sioners that the fire department put together a truck specification committee that was comprised of representatives from the fire department and the county’s fleet maintenance department to de- cide what was best for the county. The money used to purchase the engines came from the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), which was approved by the voters of the county. Six new fire engines were delivered to the Cherokee County Board of Harry Johnston, Chairman of the Commissioners on July 21st. Cherokee County Board of Com- missions, also came forward to say how proud he was of Cherokee County Fire and their firefighters.

Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson also spoke about the history of the Wet-Down Ceremony. The ceremony is a long-standing fire service tradition where firefighters wet down the new truck with a hose line from the truck being replaced. Once the new engines are delivered to the fire station, firefighters will also do a “Push Back Ceremony.” Dating back to the late 1800s, when fire companies used horse drawn equipment, a “Push Back Ceremony” pays tribute to the time when firefighters had to push the pumpers back into the firehouse because the horses weren’t able to back the rigs in.

Following the speeches, Commissioner Johnston, Commissioner Corey Ragsdale, Commissioner and former Fire Chief, Raymond Gunnin, Commissioner Steve West and County Manager Jerry Cooper all assisted in wetting down the new engines.

The new fire engines were delivered on June 24th and were put into service around the first of August and were stationed at Station 1 at 100 Old Bascomb Court, Station 8 in Holly Springs, Station 9 in North Can- ton, Station 19 located at 100 Ridge Mill Court, Station 20 at 6724 Bells Ferry Harry Johnston, Chairman of the Cherokee County Road and Station 22 located at Board of Commissioners speaks at the Wet Down 9550 Bells Ferry Road. Ceremony. 4 Fire Department Assists City With Trail Markers The City of Ball Ground, in partnership with Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services, becomes the 2nd location in Georgia to implement a U.S. National Grid (USNG) based Emergency Location Marker (ELM) System. Cobb County was the first to implement the system in late 2018.

The objective of this initiative is to provide trail markers at ¼ mile intervals and other key points along the Rob- erts Lake Trail, which is located in the northeast section of Ball Ground. These markers are key for first responders, who use USNG alpha-numeric coordinates. During a 911 emergency call, USNG coordinates quick- ly to direct emergency personnel to a physical location on the trail where a street address does not exist.

Personnel from Cherokee County Fire recently mapped the trail and collected the coordinates for the markers. The City of Ball Ground has ordered the markers and they are slated for installation later. The city plans to expand the use of the ELM System as the trail system is extended throughout the Roberts Lake Park property which comprises of nearly 50 acres along Long Swamp The markers will assist emergency crews to locate Creek. a patient during an emergency.

With a large portion of the current trail system not accessible by vehicle or even all-terrain vehicles, the city felt it was important to participated in an ELM program to give first responders definitive information so that an exact point on the trail could be determined, providing a quicker response in the event of emergency.

To access the trail, people will need to take Roberts Lake Road, which is located near the Wheeler House. The entrance to the trail is not paved at this time and most cars, small pickups, jeeps and full-size trucks with a high clearance should have no issue traveling the road. Approximately 1/3rd of a mile down Roberts Lake Road, visitors will come to the trail head with a small gravel parking lot.

According to Ball Ground City Manager, Eric Wilmarth, “The trail winds thru the woods for approximately 7/10’s of a mile to the site of the former Roberts Lake Dam.”

The Roberts Lake property has a tremendous amount of history. On March 23rd, 1923, W.H. Anderson, the mayor of Ball Ground and the City Council, signed a franchise ordinance to construct and maintain a power plant for the purpose of furnishing electricity for the city and its citizens. Local resident, Calvin Farmer, was assigned the job to construct the Roberts Lake Dam and power plant. The last remains of the facility can still be seen on the trail

“By the end of this fall we should acquire our final piece of property and complete a 200-foot section of trail that will then move the trail to just behind the Ball Ground Community Center. This will open the trail to many more people and of course will be accessible with all types of vehicles. Additionally, it will take the trail from .7 to 1.2 miles in length,” added Wilmarth.

(Story Continues on Page 6) 5 Fire Department Assists City With Trail Markers (continued) The city hopes to work on a network of interconnecting trails within the 50-acre park which is located along Long Swamp Creek. Cherokee County Fire & Emergency will continue to work with the city to expand the ELM signage, as needed, when the trail system continues to expand.

The city would like to remind its citizens that the Roberts Lake Trail is a hiking/nature trail. It is not a walking trail with improved surfaces, nor is it flat. There are significant elevation changes and of course the trail has lots of rocks, roots, and small streams – but the biggest challenge is the changes of elevation along the route. The city is working with trail experts to officially classify the trail at this time.

Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services was proud to be a partner with the city of Ball Ground with this project.

6 Brothers Helping Brothers in Time of Need

Standing in front of the fire truck are (left to right) Shane Bonebrake, Lt. Brad Gravitt, Sgt. Shane Bedwell, FAO Nick Rodriguez, and firefighter, Anthony Ciorba.

On August 10th, a powerful storm system roared across the Midwest killing at least two people and also caused widespread damage to millions of acres of crops in Iowa. The National Weather Service reported that an “intense derecho” traveled from southeast South Dakota on a path to Ohio during a 14-hour period. By the time the storm hit Des Moines, Iowa, wind gusts were clocked at more than 100 miles per hour. A derecho is a widespread, long-lived wind storm that is associated with a band of rapidly moving showers or thunderstorms.

Marion, Iowa, located about 120 miles northeast of Des Moines was also hit by the storm. Marion also hap- pens to be the hometown of Woodstock Police Officer and a former firefighter with Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services, Shane Bonebrake. Bonebrake immediately began a campaign to collect donations to fill a U-Haul truck to deliver to the town of Marion.

Battalion Chief, Chad Davis, stated that Cherokee County firefighter, Anthony Ciorba, saw a video of Bone- brake speaking about his drive to collect food items and supplies for the people of Marion and decided to help. “Anthony went down to His Hands Church to ask Shane what he could do to help and started helping to collect and organizing the donations at the church,” stated Davis. However, Ciorba, wanted to do more to help. So, the helpful firefighter gathered a list of needed supplies and reached out to members of his recruit class, his crew and others for help. Firefighters pitched in and donated the supplies and money for the victims of Marion, Iowa, and delivered it to the church.

Bonebrake and his team left on the morning of August 17th to make the over 800-mile trip to Marion, Iowa, to deliver the supplies. Our thanks to Woodstock Police Officer, Shane Bonebrake, Anthony Ciorba and all the firefighters who stepped up to help others in need.

7 Fire Department Employees Recognized for Recent Accomplishments Five employees with Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services were recognized on July 23rd at fire headquarters for recent accomplishments.

Capt. Nathan Roper was recognized first by Fire Chief, Tim Prather, for receiving his Associate Degree in Fire Science. The program incorporates a comprehensive, relevant curriculum of fire prevention and fire pro- tection that provides graduates with the knowledge needed to become a better firefighter. The program also provides current firefighters with the education needed to broaden their career paths.

Kristi Wigington, was also recognized for obtaining her Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Department Ad- ministration. The degree program, which is offered by Columbia Southern University of Orange Beach, Ala- bama, is recognized through the Fire and Emergency Services Higher Education (FESHE) initiative. Prior to obtaining her degree, Kristi also completed her Associate Degree in Fire Science.

Two Chiefs within the department were also recognized. Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson, and Field Operations Chief, Shane West, were recognized for receiving their certificates for Local Government Man- agement from the University of Georgia. According to Chief Robinson, “The course is a nationally recognized Management Development Program (MDP) that covered management and leadership development for local government. This was a very interactive program that focuses on the development of personal and group leadership skills and knowledge relevant to successful local government operations.” The class is a 20-day program that extended over eight months and were delivered in two-day modules. Department heads and other government officials from all over the state participated in this class.

Kyle O’Bryan was recognized on August 30th for completing the Local Government Management course, too.

Capt. Nathan Roper was recognized Kyle O’Bryan with his for receiving his Associate Degree in certificate of comple- Fire Science. Fire Chief, Tim Prather (left), recognizes As- tion. sistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson, and Field Operations Chief, Shane West, for receiving their certificates for Local Government Man- agement from the University of Georgia.

RIGHT Training Officer, Kristina Wig- ington, was recognized for obtaining her Bachelor of Science Degree in Fire Department Administration.