Bartow County Fire Chief Gives Update On Department

CARTERSVILLE, GA — Bartow County Fire Chief Dwayne Jamison recently gave an end-of-year update on the department's happenings in 2021.

Last year was another challenging year as COVID-19 continued to be a problem and had an effect on the fire, EMA, and EMS professions. Bartow County's Emergency Management Division spent most of their time dealing with COVID related issues, Jamison said, and "the logistics of providing personal protective equipment for a wide variety of agencies in our county to respond to and mitigate pandemic related issues."

The county's EMS delivery program increased in capacity once again in 2021.

"We were able to add additional medical licensed vehicles to our fleet and trained additional EMTs to better serve our community," Jamison said. "We now only have a few firefighters with the department that are not licensed EMTs. With classes scheduled in 2022, all BCFES personnel will eventually be licensed EMTs."

After many years of planning and preparation, the county was able to add a second Battalion Chief to each shift.

"This resulted in dividing the county in half for response zones and creating a North and South Battalion for better accountability and supervision," Jamison said. "The two Battalion Chiefs now coordinate daily for personnel coverage and equipment maintenance. This gives each Battalion seven stations to supervise. In the past, this was accomplished by one Battalion Chief each day responsible for 14 stations and all assigned equipment for that particular day. Thus, making our operations much more effective."

Also in 2021, Jamison said the department had a number of retirements, which resulted in promotions.

"At BCFES we pride ourselves on preparing our personnel for the next role in their careers," he said. "The next person up mentality helps prepare the next generation of leaders who will carry the department into the future."

But 2021 was also a time of loss.

"We lost family members and members of our BCFES family," Jamison said. "The losses were extremely difficult, but we were able to come together and support each other in ways that truly defined the fire service brotherhood/sisterhood. For this, I am very proud of how our members stood tall for each other in their greatest time of need.

"We stand true to our core values of honor, service and valor," he said. "We are here to protect the lives and property of our citizens and visitors and take great pride in serving them. I am constantly amazed at the level of dedication and commitment by our firefighters and staff. Each day is a blessing to get to serve with them."

By the numbers for 2021:

• Total incidents: 10,901
• Fire total: 318
• Overpressure, rupture, explosion, overheat (no fire): 8
• Rescue and emergency medical service incident: 6,381
• Hazardous condition (no fire): 271
• Service call: 2,026
• Good intent call: 1,394
• False alarm call: 480
• Severe weather and natural disaster: 8
• Special incident type: 15