The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department has been recognized as one of Tennessee’s elite fire departments for outstanding training achievement for the fourth year in a row.
Most notable among these awards is the Gold Level Award, which names the number one volunteer fire department in Tennessee for training hours.
The local department logged 1,469 training hours in 2011-2012, the second highest amount for any volunteer fire department in Tennessee.
The department was recognized as a Silver Level fire department for its efforts.
The local department was ranked number 25 out of all 732 fire departments in the state, both paid and volunteer.
DeKalb County Mayor Mike Foster commended the department’s members and officers for making DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department’s training program such a huge success.
“It is amazing to see the level of commitment that we are getting from our volunteer firefighters who work hard and train hard to make sure our citizens have good fire protection here in DeKalb County,” Foster said. “These rankings make it very clear that we have an excellent group of men and women who are willing to do whatever it takes to be ready to respond to the emergency needs of our citizens.”
Chief Donny Green personally commended Lieutenant/Training Coordinator Anthony Boyd and Lieutenant/Training Officer James Pennington for their determination in making the training program one of the best.
“Properly trained firefighters are the best tools a fire department has,” Green said. “Without training, even the best equipment is useless. We emphasize to our members that being a professional firefighter has nothing to do with your status as career or volunteer, it's entirely defined by how you perform.”
The department’s training was a core element in the recent Insurance Services Office (ISO) evaluation that resulted in a dramatic improvement to DeKalb County’s Public Protection Classification Rating of Class 6, a rating that many larger counties and cities do not have.
This translates in significant savings to DeKalb County 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 on our team and become a volunteer firefighter, you can visit the Department’s website at: www.dekalbfire.com, or call the Main Station at 615-597-2609 and leave a message.
You can also visit the department’s Facebook group page.