The DeKalb County Fire Department has been recognized as one of Tennessee’s elite fire departments for outstanding training achievement for the third consecutive year.Last year the department was awarded the Gold Level Award and was the #1 volunteer fire department in the state for training hours.The department logged 1,393 training hours this year, and was recognized as a Silver Level fire department for its 2010-11 training efforts.The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department ranks #33 overall among 732 fire departments in the state, both paid and volunteer. DeKalb County Mayor Mike Foster commended the department’s members and leaders for making the 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,” Foster concluded. Fire Chief Donny Green personally commended Assistant Chief/Training Coordinator Roy Merriman and Lieutenant/Training Officer James Pennington for their determination in making our training program one of the best.“Properly trained firefighters are the best tools a fire department has.”