Categories: News

Eight Union County Volunteer Firefighters complete FAO training class; certified to drive and operate fire apparatus

(L to R) Instructor Daniel byrd, FF Ricky Dyer, FF Ken Moss, Lead Instructor Doug Pruitt, FF Matt McGough, Volunteer Steve Fortunado, FF Steve Rouse, FF Mark Smith and FF George Holland

The Union County Fire Department (UCFD) certified eight volunteer firefighters on Sunday, April 23, 2017 to drive and operate Union County Fire Apparatus (fire trucks).

Now which one of these levers do I pull???

Tanker drawing water from static water source, pumping to an engine in a relay simulation.

FF/AEMT Steve Tanner instructing volunteers on pump operations.

George Holland, Ken Moss, Ricky Dyer, Matt McGough, Steve Rouse, Steve Fortunado, Mark Smith and Cody King spent two entire weekends, first learning to drive the apparatus, then learning to operate the pumps and equipment on the apparatus to get water on a fire. Now there are eight more people in Union County who can drive fire apparatus to an emergency scene and operate the systems and equipment on the fire apparatus. This is huge for residents of this mountainous, rural county in N. Georgia, where, as in other surrounding counties, good men and women who care about their communities enough to endure the rigorous training necessary to be a firefighter are hard to find.

Mark E. Smith