Cherokee County Fire Chief Tim Prather Announces Retirement

CHEROKEE COUNTY, GA — Cherokee County Fire Chief Tim Prather has announced he will be retiring from Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services.

“As some of you know, I am now completing 35 years of service with Cherokee County Fire & Emergency Services," Prather said in a statement. "To put it into perspective, I have served our department over half my entire life."

It had been rumored over the last couple of years that he was considering the retirement.

“It has really been hard for me to make the decision, identify a retirement date and have some kind of exit plan," he said in the statement. "It is bittersweet to announce that the time has come for me to retire from Cherokee County with the official retirement date of March 11."

Prather has over 47 years of collective experience in fire service and was raised in a "firefighting family."

From his early teens, working and volunteering under the watchful eye of his father, T.J. Prather at the City of Jasper Fire Department, Prather has always known that he had fire in his blood.

Prather found himself drawn into a career in the fire service after several years of volunteer firefighting. During which time, Prather also served in the U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, and as a law enforcement officer for the Jasper Police Department, Cherokee County Sheriff's Department and Pickens County Sheriff's Department.

His career with Cherokee County began on Feb. 1, 1987 as a firefighter with the Oak Grove Fire Department at Station 1. He received his EMT Certification in 1988 and, over the next 18 years, progressed through the ranks of driver, lieutenant, captain and acting battalion chief, ending his field operations career as station commander at Station 20. In May 2006, Prather was appointed to the position of division chief of operations, in 2008 he was appointed to assistant fire chief of department, and finally, in September 2011, Prather was appointed as the fire chief of Cherokee County.

Prather is proud to have served the citizens of Cherokee County for the past 35 years, and is honored to have worked alongside some of the best and most dedicated personnel in the industry.

“This service delivery is accomplished only through the elite group of professional men and women who are motivated, trained and dedicated to the preservation of life and property who are 'proud to serve' and 'second to none,'” Prather said.

Prather is married to Shirley Cantrell Prather, has seven children, five grandchildren and attends First Christian Church of Jasper.