Cherokee Explorers Take Home First Place Prizes at Winterfest

Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services’ Explorer Post 469 departed Thursday, Feb. 5 for Gatlinburg, Tennessee, for the 41st Annual Winterfest Competition.

The competition took place Feb. 7 at the Gatlinburg Convention Center, with over 3,400 explorers and venturers from 17 states attending the event this year.

This was the 14th year that the local post has attended the event. Post 469 brought 21 youth and 14 advisors to this event. Also in attendance from our department were Cherokee County Fire Chief Tim Prather, Assistant Fire Chief Eddie Robinson and Operations Chief Greg Erdely. Many friends and family members of Post 469 attended the event as well.

Explorers Post #469 came home with some well-deserved awards, including 1st and 2nd place in the Z-Drag competition, 1st and 4th place in the Table Top Display competition and 5th Place in the Cherokee Drill Competition.

The Z-Drag competition consisted of a team of four explorers who had to rescue a victim using technical rescue techniques in a timely yet precise manner. The Table Top Display competition involved the explorers using their knowledge and marketing techniques to share their passion about the fire service. One of the local teams’ display was about the explorer post and the many things it has to offer while the other display was about fire prevention, safety and suppression systems.

Both displays were presented by the explorers to the judges and many of the attendees at the event.

The Cherokee Drill, which was hosted by the Cherokee County Fire Explorer Post 469, is a timed event involving a team of four explorers in a relay type drill who had to perform tasks such as quick dress, forcible entry, hose deployment, hose crawl, victim removal and egress through a restrictive passage. The completion times between 1st and 5th place in this event were only a few seconds apart.

In addition to the competition, the local Explorer Post Honor Guard presented the nation’s and the state of Georgia’s colors at the awards ceremony on Saturday night. This was the 10th time the post has had this honor. The Honor Guard was accompanied by Cadet Firefighter Dalton Hamby, who sang The National Anthem.

The explorers began training for this year’s Winterfest back in September 2014. They averaged 7-10 hours of training per week and were mentored by career and volunteer firefighters who serve the Explorer Post without financial compensation as advisors and associate advisors.

The explorer program is a career-based leaning opportunity and is open to young men and women ages 14 (and completed the 8th grade) and not yet 21 years old with an interest in learning more about careers in the field of fire and emergency services.

The Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services Explorer Post features a hands-on program that exposes participants to many career experiences, leadership opportunities, and community service activities. The primary goals of the program are to help young adults choose a career path within fire and emergency services and to challenge them to become responsible citizens of their communities and country.

For more information about Explorer Post #469, can contact advisor Michael Sims at 678-644-1377 or mrsims@cherokeega.com.

Photo 1: Explorers (left to right) Cadet FF William Logan, Cadet FF Ashton White, Cadet FF Morgan Leslie, and Cadet Sgt. Josiah Gnanamuttu compete in a medical event where they treat a trauma patient with a gunshot wound to the chest.

Photo 2: Cherokee Fire Explorers remove patients from a vehicle in the extrication event.

Photo 3: Cadet FF Carson Caglioni and Cadet Captain Chris Simmons stand in front of their 1st Place Display about our explorer program and its benefits.

Photo 4: (left to right): Cadet FF Sarah Logan, Cadet Sgt. Nick Leslie, Cadet FF Chris Caglioni, Cadet. Lt. Brooke Ice presenting colors with national anthem sung by Cadet FF Dalton Hamby.

Photo 5: First Row (left to right): FAO Michael Sims, FF Trent Nations, FAO Jordan Seda, Sgt. Mike Caglioni, Battalion Chief Tom Pellitier, Sgt. Stan Ice, FF Michele Ice, Sgt. Brad Gravitt, Fire Chief Tim Prather. Second Row: Lake Arrowhead Chief Rebecaa Strobl, Operations Chief Greg Erdely, Lt. Scott Deal, Assistant Fire Chief Eddie Robinson, Cadet FF Ashton White,Cadet FF Emily Blackwell, Cadet FF Ethan Sanders, Cadet FF Chris Caglioni, Cadet Sgt. Nick Leslie,Cadet Sgt. Josiah Gnanamuttu, Cadet FF Zach Robinson, Cadet FF Sujki Jules, Cadet Lt. Kenny Robinson, Cadet FF Chad Barday, Cadet FF William Logan, Captain Bill Hamby. Third Row: Cadet Sgt. Jake Pohlman, Cadet FF Zach Ray, Cadet FF Brendan Schmitter, Cadet FF Dalton Hamby, Cadet FF Sarah Logan, Cadet Captain Chris Simmons, Cadet FF Morgan Leslie, Cadet Lt. Brooke Ice, Cadet FF Chris Dawson, FAO Destiny LaBossiere, FF Corey Deal

Credits: Tim Cavender/Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services