Brian Williams, Station Commander of the Main Station, located on King Ridge Rd, was named the "2013 County Firefighter of the Year" Saturday night during the Department's Annual Awards Banquet held at the DeKalb County Complex. Chief Green says that the DeKalb County Fire Department always wants to recognize firefighters who excel in applying their training and community service. “Anyone can show up in a classroom or show up on an emergency scene and say they are learning or efficient in their firefighting skills. However, our department is interested in recognizing firefighters who are demonstrating a high level of proficiency in applying their learning and making a difference at emergency incidents. It's not the numbers that should impress anyone, it's all about the results,” said Chief Green.
Approximately 175 people were in attendance at the Awards Banquet, including firefighters, their families, local and state officials, graduates of the 2013 Citizens' Fire Academies (Spring and Fall session), and community partners.
County Fire Chief Donny Green, who presided over the ceremony, presented the award and said Firefighter Williams met all the department's criteria in earning this award. "Brian was nominated this year and the evaluation of his nomination considered his fire call response, training attendance, and community service participation. The fire calls and training attendance stand for themselves. He excelled in both of those areas. As far as his community service, Brian has demonstrated an outstanding community service by taking the lead in allowing our department to partner with the Tennessee Fire Marshall's Office in the “Get Alarmed Tennessee” Smoke Alarm Program. Starting in  April 2013 and up to Dec. 31, 2013, Brian has sacrificed his personal time and expense to travel to every community in DeKalb County while installing 681 smoke alarms in homes with no alarms, or in homes with deficient alarms. Keep in mind, this enormous task not only included travelling to residences and delivering the free smoke alarms, but also included the time that he spent ensuring that every alarm was properly installed and functioning. The degree of safety for our DeKalb County residents has been dramatically improved with Brian's efforts in this program responsibility that he voluntarily accepted. This type of community service, that so clearly demonstrates going above and beyond normal training and emergency response duties, is exactly what we want to recognize in the selection of this prestigious award. DeKalb County Fire Department attempts to recognize firefighters who reflect a positive image on our department in the community and there's absolutely no doubt that Brian has accomplished this. As such, we are honored to announce that Brian Williams is DeKalb County Fire Department's 2013 “Firefighter of the Year”.
Firefighter Steve Repasy received the Department's 2013 “Git R Done" award, while the "Rookie" award went to Firefighter Matt Boss of the Liberty Station.
During the ceremony, Chief Green highlighted some of the major accomplishments achieved by the Department in 2013. In April, the Department began its first ever six-week Citizens' Fire Academy with nine participants. Also in April, the Department partnered with the Tennessee Fire Marshall's Office in the “Get Alarmed Tennessee” smoke detector program. From April-De., Firefighter Brian Williams headed up the free smoke alarm installation program and installed 691 smoke alarms in DeKalb County homes. In May, the Spring 2013 Session Citizens' Fire Academy graduation ceremony was held at Center Hill Lake. Twelve of our members graduated from the Fire Academy's 22-hour Live Burn Training in June. Additionally, in June, DeKalb County Fire Department and DeKalb County High School's General Metals Shop completed a lengthy project that involved designing, building, and installing storage racks on three of the Department's tanker/pumpers. In September, Firefighters Chris Wyke and Kyle Casper were promoted as Lieutenants. The Fall 2013 Session of the Citizens' Fire Academy began in Oct. and continued for six weeks. We had nine students graduate on Nov. 5.