The Liberty Fire Station can claim bragging rights after being awarded the DeKalb County Fire Department’s FirstBank “Station of the Year” during Saturday night’s annual awards banquet. The headlining sponsor of the banquet was Wilson Bank & Trust. Awards were also presented to the DTC Communications “Rookie Firefighter of the Year” Terry Phillips of the Four Seasons Station and to the Town & Lake Realty Honorary Lifetime Membership award recipient DCFD Captain Blake Cantrell.
The DCFD also announced the promotion of firefighter Alex Woodward to the officer position rank of Lieutenant.
The Liberty Station Commander Kyle Hovey accepted the “Station of the Year” award from Lieutenant Matt Adcock and Scott Goodwin of FirstBank.
Alex Woodward was the program emcee and made the award announcements.
“The Liberty Station has spent a large number of hours not just with regular fire service and teamwork but also with a focus on service to the community in various ways. The station has placed extra emphasis on member involvement and training at the station level”.
“They have had at least four different station training sessions that the new members have requested while also inviting members from other stations. Specific training on Incident Command and scene size ups, water supply, pumping the station’s engine and training on ladders while wearing SCBA”.
“They have worked hard to keep their station organized and neat while also being accessible to the public while at the station”.
“Several members of this station pulled together to work on a giving box that was damaged. Together they repaired it as well as donated items to re-supply this box”.
“They hosted a community event at Halloween and also spent station funds to help a couple of families in their service area at Christmas time. They also decorated their engine and participated in the town Christmas Parade”
FirstBank is honored to announce that the Liberty Station 65 is the recipient of the 2024 DeKalb County Fire Department Station of the Year”.
*2024 DeKalb Telephone Cooperative (DTC) Rookie of the Year Award.
Firefighter Terry Phillips of the Four Seasons Station was named the recipient of the 2024 DeKalb Telephone Cooperative (DTC) Rookie of the Year Award presented by Justin Mauldin of DTC and DCFD training officer Luke Green.
This award is exclusively based on hours of training completed by a rookie firefighter who completed his/her basic recruit training during 2024.
Program emcee Alex Woodward made the announcement of the winner and the award was presented by Captain Brian Williams
“The DeKalb County Fire Department has a rich legacy of being recognized for its excellent training programs. For the 16th consecutive year, the DeKalb County Fire Department has received statewide recognition for being an elite training department. The department’s leadership feels basic and continuous training are the best tools to give rookies when they enter the fire service. Consequently, training is the sole criteria used for selecting the “Rookie of the Year”.
“We certainly want to recognize all members who have demonstrated an outstanding level of commitment to training. Today, we especially want to recognize this recruit for completing 273.09 hours of training during his 12-month rookie period.”
“DTC Communications is honored to announce that Terry Phillips, firefighter with the Four Seasons Station, is the 2024 DTC Rookie of the Year”, said Woodward.
*2024 Town and Lake Realty Honorary Lifetime Membership
The 2024 Town and Lake Realty Honorary Lifetime Membership honoree is Captain Blake Cantrell.
Program emcee Alex Woodward made the announcement and Jeff Williams, a previous honorary lifetime member presented the award
“Each year, the Department’s Executive Committee accepts and reviews applications for Honorary Lifetime Memberships. This is a very distinguished award and recipients are selected by the Department’s Executive Committee based on strict merits of their service and contributions to our department”.
The Honorary Lifetime Membership Award is being presented to one recipient for the year 2024.
“Captain Blake Cantrell has served as a Firefighter, Station Commander, Lieutenant, and now Captain for a cumulative time of 9 years. He has provided the following significant contributions during his time on the Department:
*Originally joining the Department in 2015 to help with communications but eventually learning there was more to accomplish.
*Since joining the department in 2015, he has been heavily involved in the implementation of new technology, including upgrade to APX radios and Apparatus mobiles, installing cameras at the main station, upgrading station doors to keypads, improving the technology for DCFD training facilities, build out of a new website, and many more improvement projects.
*Served as the Communications Officer for the department since 2016, managing the departments communication equipment and keeping it all up to date.
*Assisted with fundraising efforts through working the Jamboree and Fair booths, and most recently chairperson of the events committee.
*Currently serving as the Vice President of DeKalb Fire, Inc. Board of Directors”.
In April 2024, the DeKalb County Fire Department’s Executive Committee reviewed and approved Captain Cantrell’s application for Honorary Lifetime Membership”.
“This evening, we are honored to officially present Captain Blake Cantrell with his DeKalb County Fire Department Honorary Lifetime Membership, sponsored by Town & Lake Realty. As you can see, Captain Cantrell has served in a very honorable and dedicated manner”.
