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10A I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I dawsonnews.com
Wednesday, April 6,2022
Fire chief speaks to concerns about emergency operations
'Public safety is the number one thing
we're tasked with so we can enjoy every
thing else in this great county. The num
ber one thing is being safe to enjoy it'
Danny Thompson
Fire Chief and Emergency Services Director
By Julia Fechter
jfechter@dawsonnews.com
Amidst a recent influx
in vocal concerns about
local growth, residents
have also shared their
unease regarding emer
gency response.
During a March 29
interview, Fire Chief and
Emergency Services
Director Danny
Thompson explained that
he and his department
share those concerns.
“We see the challenges
with growth [too] and
embrace those challeng
es,” Thompson said. “We
try to forecast and predict
and serve the county as
fast as it’s growing.”
Some have pointed at
call volume as problemat
ic.
As of March 25, there
has been a 20 percent
overall increase in call
volume. When Thompson
spoke to DCN at the
beginning of this year,
that percentage was
between 13-14 percent.
https ://www.dawson-
news.com/news/
government/911-calls-
daw son-county-rose-
13-percent-2021/
At that time, the bulk of
responses, whether from
fire or EMS personnel,
were for medical calls.
The factors about
lengthy response times
are more nuanced, partic
ularly when it comes to
mutual aid.
Currently, Dawson
County has eight fire sta
tions, including the new
est station 8 that debuted
in its north-central area
last year.
https://www.dawson-
news.com/news/public-
safety/dawson-county-
cut-ribbon-new-fire-sta-
tion-8/
Six of those stations are
staffed with full-time fire
fighters 24/7, 365 days a
year, Thompson said. The
other two, stations 4 and
5, have all volunteers.
Mutual aid and
response times
From week to week,
the county’s fire depart
ment may require differ
ent levels of mutual aid,
depending on what emer
gencies arise. A fire on
the east side of Dawson
County, where there are
more water hydrants,
could require three fire
engines, one quint vehicle
and two medical units, as
well as a battalion chief.
During that kind of
structure fire, personnel
are enabled to shift more
resources into the county
and move fire trucks
around where there are
service gaps. Because
resources may be taken
from one station and relo
cated for service, Dawson
County may ask one of
the neighboring counties
to temporarily cover a fire
station. Those mutual
responders might not
actually arrive on scene,
depending on the inci
dent.
If, say, a majority of the
six full-time fire stations
are helping respond to a
single fire, then the
chance of service delivery
challenges and longer
response times increases,
Thompson said.
That’s part of the rea
son why mutual aid is uti
lized is to reduce those
response times, he added.
Similarly, since
Dawson County doesn’t
have a hospital, people
are often taken to facili
ties closer to metro
Atlanta.
From the time a medi
cal unit is dispatched to
the time it’s back in ser
vice, that may be about
two hours, Thompson
said. The round-trip com
mute depends on whether
a patient is taken to
Northeast Georgia
Medical Center in
Gainesville, Northside
Hospital Forsyth,
Children’s Healthcare of
Atlanta’s Scottish Rite
Hospital or Grady
Memorial Hospital for
burns.
Just like with fighting
fires, it’s also proven
helpful for Dawson
County to rely on neigh
boring emergency servic
es partners.
“There are times during
the week that every
ambulance is on a call or
transport,” Thompson
said. “That doesn’t mean
we don’t have anybody to
send. We still have fire
trucks and firefighters.
They’re certified and have
the ability to respond to
treat and stabilize patients
as if an ambulance crew
was there. They just can’t
take patients [to a hospi
tal] in a fire truck.”
Personnel and
facility growth
While Dawson County
Fire and EMS did have
more vacancies at the
beginning of the year,
making more full-time
positions and salary
increases have made the
department’s positions
more competitive,
Thompson said.
https://www.dawson-
news.com/news/public-
safety/dawson-county-
boc-approves-pay-raises-
law-enforcement-public-
works-employees/
Currently, the depart
ment has a job posting up
for a full-time paramedic
or EMT (link).
https ://www.dawson-
county.org/jobs
They are also looking
for people to fill two sec
ond lieutenant positions,
contingent on a promo
tional process, as well as
a battalion chief position.
Captains and above,
including battalion chiefs,
have to be paramedic-cer
tified.
Thompson called the
numbers a “pretty signifi
cant improvement,” and
he’s still seeing applica
tions come in for posi
tions.
Thompson called the
special purpose local
option sales tax, or
SPFOST, beneficial to the
extent it’s “almost 95 per
cent of the reason we’re
able to have the capital
projects.”
The SPFOST VII funds
will help cover $2.25 mil
lion for any fire truck or
engine replacement;
about $2.3 million in
ambulance replacements;
$3 million in fire station
improvements and $1
million for another burn
building. Those figures
don’t include the $8.5
million to upgrade radio
systems and construct a
new 911/emergency oper
ations center.
Aside from the joint
project, one of
Thompson’s biggest goals
is to not only put full
time firefighters in sta
tions 4 and 5, but also
build renewed quarters
that have spaces for fire
equipment and volunteer
kitchen and office space.
“They’ve served this
community well over the
years, and the volunteers
at the time did a great job
building them,” he said of
those stations’ building,
“but they’ve long exceed
ed their life span.”
If these two stations
were staffed, it would
allow county fire person
nel to offer greater cover
age while also working
large-scale incidents.
With more other units in
service during those
instances, the response
time could be kept down
and a greater level of ser
vice would be offered, he
said.
A lower response time
can also have further ben
efits by lowering the ISO
fire safety rating. In short,
the higher that figure is,
the more homeowners
tend to pay in taxes.
He elaborated later that
a slight millage rate
increase could help pay
for, say, more firefighters
or deputies to serve the
community.
Thompson thinks his
department collaborating
with the BOC will contin
ue to be a key factor in
the way forward for
improving county emer
gency services. He also
considered it important to
keep in mind a depart
mental vision that takes
into account regional
growth and fiscal respon
sibility.
“Public safety is the
number one thing we’re
tasked with so we can
enjoy everything else in
this great county,”
Thompson said. “The
number one thing is being
safe to enjoy it.”
DCHS FFA competes
in Forestry Field Day
By Erica Jones
ejones@dawsonnews.com
On Tuesday March 29,
students from the Dawson
County High School
Future Farmers of
America (FFA) group
competed in the North
Region Area 1 Forestry
Field Day.
According to FFA
Advisor Keith Pankey,
the event consisted of
land measurement, timber
stand improvement, ocu
lar estimation, diseases
and disorders, wildlife
management, tree identi
fication, timber cruising
for board foot and cord
volume, and compass
reading.
“The team placed 10th
overall,” Pankey said.
“First-time competition
Jalen Smith received an
event plaque for being the
third highest individual in
land measurement.”
Photo courtesy of Keith Pankey
On March 29, students from the Dawson County
High School FFA group competed in the North
Region Area 1 Forestry Field Day.
FROM 6A
Judge
“I think that’s really
important for a judge to
understand that. Of
course, you have to make
a decision within the
boundaries of the law, but
at the same time, you
have to consider, ‘How
does this really affect
these people?”’
He spoke about the
weighty responsibility of
his new role and “under
standing and appreciating
the emotional aspect of
juvenile court.”
“You have to decide,
for example, whether a
parent gets to maintain
custody of her children,
which is of course one of
the biggest decisions that
a court could ever make,”
he said. “That’s compara
ble to decisions whether
somebody goes to prison
or how long they go to
prison for. I mean, that’s
just as serious and, in
some cases, can be more
serious.”
He said there were
probably about half a
dozen candidates for the
position. The Times
requested the list of appli-
cants, but the court
declined the request.
When asked why he
thinks he was chosen over
the others, he identified
his experience, his work
ethic and the rapport he
built with judges as a
public defender.
“I’ve been practicing
here for over eight years
now as a public defender,
so I’ve handled a large
caseload and had cases in
front of all of the judges
here,” he said. “I think
what they saw in me was
that I would put in the
serious work and atten
tion to make good deci
sions on those really diffi
cult matters.”
This story was originally
published in The Gainesville
Times, a sister publication of
the Dawson County News.
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