DCFD
Press Release
2018 DCFD Awards Banquet
January 19, 2019, DeKalb County Community Complex
The DeKalb County Fire Department’s Annual Awards Banquet was held Saturday, January 19 at the DeKalb County Complex Auditorium. The headlining sponsor for this year’s banquet was Wilson Bank & Trust. The evening began with a delicious meal and an awesome motivational speech by Dr. Burton A. Clark is an Executive Fire Officer and has been in the fire service for 49 years from the local to international levels; working in urban, suburban, and rural environments for paid and volunteer organizations in operations, prevention, and education domains. His research is in firefighter safety and culture. He has lectured and published around the world. His award winning book "I Can't Save You, But I'll Die Trying: The American Fire Culture." has been gifted to the United States Congress and the Kansas and Ohio State Legislatures. The meal and entertainment sponsors were Center Hill Nursery, Evins Mill Inn/Restaurant, Face Pace Urgent Care Clinic, Middle Tennessee Natural Gas Utility District, Riverwatch Golf Club, Sligo Marina, and The Swallows Agency.
Approximately 180 were in attendance at the Awards Banquet, including firefighters, their families, banquet sponsors, local and state officials, and community partners. County Fire Chief Donny Green presided over the evening’s program.
On October 6 & 7, 14 members of Vehicle Rescue Team completed a 24-hour vehicle extrication class conducted by the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Academy. Also in October, the department hosted the 15-hour Introduction to Pumpers class where 6 members, as well as firefighters from White and Warren counties attended. In November, a bid was awarded to begin construction of the department’s 12th station in the Four Seasons Community. The goal is to have the station constructed and in operation by late April or early May 2019. Also in November, we had 6 firefighters complete a weekend training session at the Tennessee River Weekend in Savannah, Tennessee and firefighters Herb Checci, Andrew Harvey, and Mike Halderson graduated from the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Training Academy’s Live Burn class. During Thanksgiving and Christmas, several of the department’s members participated in the DeKalb Emergency Services Association (DESA) meal preparation and delivery efforts for needy and underserved DeKalb County residents. In December, Firefighter Justin Coats graduated from the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Training Academy’s Live Burn class. For the year, the 62-member all-volunteer department donated a total of 7,747.51 hours responding to calls, attending training, participating in work session and fundraising events, and attending administrative meetings and special events. To put that in perspective, that’s 124.96 hours per member.
As such, the following awards were presented during the banquet:
Steve
Repasy, Station Commander at the Midway Station, was selected to receive the
2018 Saint Thomas DeKalb/Ascension Firefighter of the Year Award. Assistant Chief
Anthony Boyd presented this award that is exclusively selected from
firefighters who were awarded “Firefighter of the Month” during the course of
2018, and is based upon training participation, incident response, community
service, and extra effort. Assistant Chief Boyd said Steve Repasy has exceled in
all considerations used to evaluate the worthiness of earning this award.
"Steve has excelled in all areas of consideration and always is willing to
take on any project with a positive attitude. Whether it’s a work session, fire
prevention/safety event, fundraiser, training, or fire call, you will see him
there from start to finish. He does so much work behind the scenes that keeps
our department running smoothly. As for his community service, Steve is very
active Red Cross, Habitat for Humanity, building wheelchair ramps for the
needy, children’s reading programs at the library, and he is an active member
of the Smithville Lion’s Club. DeKalb County Fire Department attempts to
recognize firefighters who reflect a positive image of commitment and sacrifice
to the department and our communities, and there’s absolutely no doubt that
Steve has earned the honor of being named Saint Thomas DeKalb/Ascension 2018 Firefighter
of the Year,” said Asst. Chief Boyd.
Lieutenant
Dusty Johnson was named the 2018 Liberty State Bank Officer of the Year. Chief
Donny Green presented the award and highlighted Lieutenant Johnson’s achievements
in training attendance, incident response, and community service. “As one of
our lieutenants and Fire Prevention/Safety Officer, Dusty has grown in his
leadership skills and does a tremendous job planning, coordinating, and scheduling
free smoke alarm installations and providing fire prevention/safety events for
our community. In 2018, he and his team installed just over 300 smoke alarms in
DeKalb County. Lt. Johnson is among the top when it comes to incident responses
and training attendance. He unselfishly donates his construction skills and
equipment to make improvements to our department. Lastly, he sacrifices his
time for community service. As a member of the DeKalb Emergency Services
Association, he played a big role in helping plan, prepare, and deliver almost
400 meals to the needy last Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Dusty also serves
our community in his role as Captain of the Smithville/DeKalb County Rescue
Squad. We are proud to honor Lt. Dusty Johnson as the Liberty State Bank 2018
Officer of the Year,” said Chief Green.
Blake Cantrell, Communications Officer and firefighter with the Cookeville Highway Station, was selected by the awards panel to receive the Tenneco 2018 “Git R Done" Award. Cantrell was also a co-recipient of this award in 2017. Lieutenant Andy Pack presented this award and said this award is aimed at recognizing members who demonstrate exceptional sacrifices going above and beyond responding to calls and attending training. “Firefighter Blake Cantrell continuously shares is technology skills and goes well beyond his required duties as one our communications officers. He always is willing to take on new projects and he stays on task and is always prompt. Blake has been a huge part of making our fundraising and sponsorship efforts very successful. He prioritizes training and call response and still does all these extra things that makes our department better prepared to serve and respond. With his excellent information technology skills, Blake has gone above and beyond by maintaining our security equipment, text messaging system, and computers. As for community service, it would be hard to find anyone more involved in our community. This is validated by him being named “Community Leader of the Year” by the Leadership DeKalb Alumni in April 2018. Blake is the President of the DeKalb Emergency Services Association (DESA) and has led many community service projects including hosting Camp Phoenix, a camp for children with burn injuries held at Indian Creek Youth Camp, Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve meal preparation and delivery project where over 400 meals were delivered on each occasion. Blake demonstrates the model of a "Git-R-Done" firefighter. His commitment to sacrifice of personal time, both in our department and in the community, while leading with a positive attitude, clearly shows why the awards panel chose Blake Cantrell as the recipient of the Tenneco 2018 “Git R Done” award.
The DeKalb Telephone Cooperative (DTC) Rookie of the Year award went to Firefighter Travis Checci of the Liberty Station. Captain/Training Officer Brian Williams presented the award and said this award is exclusively based on hours of training and goes to a firefighter that completed his/her basic recruit training during 2018. Capt. Williams says the department feels that the most important thing we can do for our new recruits is to give them basic training and reinforce the importance of continuous training. Consequently, training is the sole criteria used in the “Rookie of the Year” selection. During Firefighter Checci’s 12-month rookie period, he completed 162 hours of training, including completion of the 64 hour Basic Firefighter Training. In addition to his Basic Recruit training, he has completed a long list of extra training courses to improve his firefighting skills. “We certainly want to recognize recruits who demonstrate an outstanding level of commitment to training. Our department is fortunate to have an excellent group of recruits who have contributed to our department being recognized with elite training awards for 10 consecutive years. We are proud of all of them and we are honored to name Firefighter Travis Checci as our 2018 DTC Rookie of the Year,” said Captain Williams.
Lieutenant Dusty Johnson and Captain Jay Cantrell presented Walmart Length of Service Awards for the following 7 members:
5 years of service: Matt Boss, Liberty Station
Harley Lawrence, Main Station
Stan Morris, Liberty Station
Brent Reed, Jr., Blue Springs Station
Robert Sartin, Main Station
10 years of service: Steve Repasy, Midway Station
20 years of service: Anthony Boyd, Assistant Chief
Captains Brian Williams and Michael Lawrence presented Safe Industries Training Achievement Awards. Members achieving 100% training attendance were: Matt Adcock, Justin Bass, Asst. Chief Anthony Boyd, Capt. Jay Cantrell, Kim Cantrell, Herb Checci, Chief Donny Green, Donnie Johnson, Lt. Dusty Johnson, Jerry Wayne Johnson, Jody Lattimore, Capt. Michael Lawrence, Lt. Andy Pack, Shawn Puckett, Robert Sartin, Calvin Tramel, and Capt. Brian Williams. Members achieving 75% training attendance were: Sandra Caffee, Shawn Chausse, Harley Lawrence, Tony Moore, Jeremy Neal, Steve Repasy, Cody Wagner, and Jason Young.
Honorary Lifetime Member Jeff Williams presented the Honorary Lifetime Membership Awards. Each year, the Department’s Executive Committee accepts and reviews applications for Honorary Lifetime Memberships. This is a very distinguished award and recipients are chosen on strict merits of their service and contributions to our department. Three awards were presented for 2018. Steve Repasy joined the department in 2008 and has served as Station Commander at both the Midway and Johnson’s Chapel stations. “Steve has received numerous awards for his contributions to the fire department and our community. Whatever we are doing, whether training, fire calls, fundraisers, or special work projects, he is always there. He has a genuine interest in serving his community and we are honored to present Steve Repasy with this recognition and award,” said Williams. Bob Myracle has served on the department since 2006 and has led the Austin Bottoms Station as Station Commander. “Bob has donated countless hours of his time and resources at the Austin Bottoms Station and also in maintaining our fire boat at the Cookeville Boat Dock. His wisdom on our leadership team has been invaluable and his sacrifice and commitment to our department has been outstanding. We are privileged to present Bob Myracle with his Honorary Lifetime Membership Award,” said Williams. Lastly, Marvin Montgomery, field instructor with the Tennessee Fire Service and Codes Enforcement Training Academy, was also presented with an Honorary Lifetime Membership. “Marvin is not only an instructor, but he is a friend a mentor to our department. He has served on the Putnam County Fire Department and currently serves on the Cookeville Fire Department. With a practical understanding of the volunteer fire services, Marvin easily relates to our students and always challenges them to be the best they can be. Marvin began teaching fire program classes at our department in 1997 and continues to instruct several courses for our department each year. We consider him one of us, even though he’s not an official active member of our department. However, we are proud to say that he is now an official Honorary Lifetime Member; an honor he has clearly earned,” said Williams.
To conclude the awards ceremony, the department’s officers presented Hugh Washer, firefighter with the Cookeville Highway Station, with a special honorary fire axe plaque recognizing his 41 years of exceptional and dedicated service on the department. “Although Hugh will be stepping down from active status, he is one of our Honorary Lifetime Members and we know he will continue to be a part of this family,” said Chief Green.
In addition to the Headlining Sponsor, the Awards Sponsors, and the Meal and Entertainment Sponsors, Chief Green recognized other banquet sponsors as follows: Table Sponsors—Caney Fork Electric Cooperative, DeKalb Market, Emergency Vehicle Specialists, Federal Mogul, Gill Automotive, NHC Healthcare, Janney & Associates, Johnson Constructions, MAPCO, Smithville Marine, Smithville Review, Walmart, Wink Brown, and W.S. Darley & Co. Program Sponsors—Federal Mogul, Optimus Pest Solutions, and the Webb House Retirement Center. In addition, the following community partners who have provided special support to the department were recognized: Smithville and Alexandria fire departments, as well as Putnam Co. Fire Department for graciously volunteering to take emergency calls so members could enjoy the banquet, 2018 DCFD Citizens’ Fire Academy Class, local Red Cross representatives, WJLE Radio Station, Smithville Review Newspaper, Tennessee Division of Forestry, Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency, DeKalb County 911, Smithville/DeKalb County Rescue Squad, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Department, DeKalb County EMS, Tennessee Fire Marshal’s office, Mayor Tim Stribling and his office staff, and the DeKalb County Commission. “Our department is recognized widely for our commitment and performance and we credit that to the willingness of our volunteers to understand their commitment on a professional level, the support and networking of our community partners, and the support of our County Mayor and County Commission,” said Chief Green.
