Cherokee Fire Chief Receives State Certification

CANTON, GA -- Cherokee County Fire Chief Tim Prather has recently been honored for his commitment to education and training with his staff.

Georgia Association of Fire Chief President Charles Wasdin presented Prather with the Georgia Fire Chief Certification for his continued commitment to education and training in Georgia fire service leadership and management on April 2. The certification process involves a cumulative scoring process that includes meeting prerequisites, service time and higher education credits.

GAFC's held its 2019 Spring Executive Session last week in Savannah. The event offered several executive training/education sessions along with a couple of days when vendors showcased their fire service products.

Members of the Cherokee County Fire Department executive staff attended the conference including Prather, Asst. Fire Chief Eddie Robinson, Division Chief Shane West and Special Operations Chief Darrel Mitchell.

“I am honored to receive the GAFC Fire Chief certification,” Prather said in a release. “I believe this program was started about four years ago. The GAFC recognized the need to establish this program and to my knowledge, this is the only program within the state to credential our fire service leaders. Although I’m near the end of my career, I believe it is necessary to lead by example. To date, we now have four of our chief officers that have participated and obtained their certifications through the GAFC, and we will encourage, and at some point, require all candidates for chief officer to obtain.”