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l FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thursday, April 22, 2004
Race to honor runner, cancer victim
From staff reports
A 5K run will be held
Saturday to benefit a Forsyth
County youth who is battling
cancer and to honor a long
time runner and cyclist.
The Jay Cullen Memorial
5K run/walk will begin at
First Baptist Church on
Sawnee Drive in Cumming.
Cullen was a retired airline
pilot who was an avid runner
and cyclist and had complet-
FIRE from 1A
11 feet from the adjacent
homes and 71 feet from the
residences across the street.
"The closeness of the
houses multiplied the wind
problem by 10 fold."
Coleman wrote.
The Cumming Police
Department directed traffic of
residents leaving and emer
gency personnel entering the
neighborhood. Narrow streets
in the "cluster" subdivision
could not sufficiently handle
the sudden traffic and created
problems for the fire depart
ment. Coleman said.
"Just as significant was
the large crowd of ‘lookie
loos’ that had gathered. They
were actually making it diffi
cult for people to get out and
for emergency personnel to
get in." wrote volunteer fire
fighter and District 2 County
Commissioner A.J. Pritchgtt
in his summary of the inci
dent.
• Dysfunctional hydrants
Coleman referenced two
dysfunctional fire hydrants in
his report. Engine 1 was dis
patched with the initial emer
gency call at 4:14 p.m.
Firefighter Richard Hamilton
was the first to discover a dry
hydrant at 3910 Deerborne
Drive two minutes after they
arrived. Two homes already
were burning at that point.
"1 attempted to charge the
deluge gun on engine one but
did not have enough water
from the supply line. Then the
hydrant went dead and
stopped producing water."
Hamilton wrote in his
account of the fire.
Though the fire hydrants
belong to the City of
Cumming Department of
Utilities, it is the job of the
fire department to make sure
they are in proper working
order. Bowman has said.
Effective April 15. Bowman
approved a new system of
checks and balances to ensure
that nonworking hydrants are
repaired in a timely manner.
The second house was
completely engulfed in fire by
4:23 p.m. and the third home
was burning two minutes later
due to heavy winds. Coleman
reported.
Engine 15 arrived on
scene at 4:26 p.m., 12 min
utes after it was dispatched.
Bowman has said he expects
his firefighters to be on the
scene w ithin five minutes of a
call. The driver of Engine 15
missed the entrance to
Manchester Court and had to
turn around in the neighbor
ing subdivision. Manchester
Park.
"I told Scott [Sibenaller]
to turn; he didn't hear me
over the motor and all of the
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ed a ride across the U.S. last
year. He was killed Jan. 13 in
a hit and run accident in
Lumpkin County.
The proceeds of the event
will benefit Josh Wallace,
who recently underwent a
bone marrow transplant to
combat leukemia.
Cullen’s daughter. Sarah
Wilcox, said that her father
had been recruited to organ
ize the race prior to his
radio traffic." firefighter
David Scheuerer said in his
report to Coleman. He added
that it took only one minute
for the engine to circle back
to Manchester Court.
At 4:27 p.m., Sibenaller
and Scheuerer reported the
hydrant at 3905 Delfaire
Trace to be inoperative.
Engine 4 arrived on the
scene at 4:33 p.m. and laid a
water supply line to the
hydrant at 3935 Werrington
Drive, according to the report.
"Due to strong wind and
the fire 1 could not stop the
fire from spreading. The fire
spread to the fifth structure as
1 was spraying it with the
attack line," Engine 4 fire
fighter Keith Ramey said in
his report.
Meanwhile. Engine 1 was
forced by the heat of the fire
storm to reposition in front of
3809 Delfaire Trace. Engine 1
firefighters received water at
4:41 p.m. from Engine 14
routed through Engine 12 who
was hooked up to a hydrant on
Tattenhall Drive two blocks
away from the fire.
Ramey and firefighter
Greg Chapman entered the
attic of the sixth house at
3906 Deerborne Drive to stop
the progression of the fire by
4:46 p.m. By that time, five
homes were burned to the
foundation. A sixth house was
severely damaged by flames
and 13 others suffered heat
damage. The fire was
declared by the battalion
chief to be fully extinguished
at 10:34 p.m.
• Short staffing Until
1998. Forsyth County fire
fighting was done by a
brigade of volunteers. Now'
the Forsyth County Fire
Department has a paid staff of
117 firefighters that rotate
service on three shifts. Career
firefighters at Manchester
Court on April 4 numbered 34
w ith 11 volunteers assisting.
Five firefighters arrived on
Engine 12. three on Engine 1.
three on Engine 4. two on
Engine 2, two on Engine 15
and two on Engine 14.
Initially, only Engine 1 and
15 were dispatched. Engine 2
arrived quickly, bringing the
total firefighters on scene to
only seven in the first 15 min-
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death. His friends and fellow
church members at First
Baptist decided to continue
with the plans for the race as
a tribute to their friend.
Registration for the event
will begin at 7 a.m. and a
Jazzercize warmup will take
place at 7:30 a.m. The race
will begin at 8 a.m. The entry
fee is sl7.
For more information call
(770)887-2428.
utes.
“During the critical first
few minutes, short staffing
made fire operation extremely
difficult. Some decisions were
made by me as ‘Fire
Commander.’ based on avail
able firefighters rather than on
fire conditions, as would be
dictated by good strategy and
tactics," Coleman reported.
During an interview with
Bowman about Coleman's
staffing concerns, the fire
chief indicated that he is not in
a rush to increase personnel.
"Ideally a fire engine
should be staffed by a mini
mum of four personnel. This
will be my goal as budget
allows over the next several
years." Bowman said.
• Construction and land
scaping materials While
firefighters struggled to find
water to stop the flames, the
mostly wooden houses ignit
ed quickly.
"The lack of fire resistive
materials on the outside of the
houses contributed greatly to
the rapid fire spread,"
Coleman wrote in his report.
Vinyl siding melted,
exposing the wood beneath to
the flames. Embers from the
siding flew through the neigh
borhood. lighting grass fires
2.000 feet from the original
fire, Coleman reported.
Bermuda sod yards and pine
straw next to the houses were
ideal kindling for small fires.
"It became necessary to
assign engines to ember
patrol rather than using them
on the main fire scene."
Coleman wrote.
Working with available
conditions. Coleman said the
fire department’s hardwork
ing men and women kept a
larger disaster at bay.
”...[W]hat could easily
have become a major disaster
and destroyed an entire sub
division was held to five
houses destroyed and 15 oth
ers damaged." Coleman
wrote in his report to the fire
chief.
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Forsyth County News
J Your "Hometown Paper " Since 1908 J
ADVERTISING ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE
The Forsyth County News is currently seeking a
goal oriented Account Executive to join our
growing Advertising Department. Individual
must have excellent organizational skills and
possess prior outside sales experience, prefer
ably in advertising or related Must have
ability to service existing accounts while focus
ing on new business development and work in a
deadline oriented environment.
FCN offers a pleasant work environment,
excellent growth opportunity, competitive com
pensation and benefits.
For consideration on this position, please fax
resume to:
Marti Barnes, Advertising Director,
770-844-9779
Or Mail To:
302 Veteran Memorial Blvd.
Cumming, GA. 30040
or email to: marti@forsythnews.com
No phone calls, please.
EOE
Forsyth celebrates Earth Day
By Antonia Hertwlg-Benson
Staff Writer
Keep Forsyth County
Beautiful has organized events
today and Saturday to help the
county celebrate Earth Day.
KFCB today is scheduled to
sponsor the 2004 Liberty
Gardens, which according to
Szabo “is for the people who
lost their lives on Sept. 11
12001].”
Szabo said it’s the third
time it has organized the cere
mony, however, it’s the first
year they celebrated it on Earth
Day, which is today, April 22.
The H.E.S.S. Home School
and Forsyth County Master
Gardeners will plant flowers in
the shape of an American flag
during the ceremony at the
Central Park Recreation Center.
Jim Perdue, pastor of North
Cross Baptist Church and son
of Gov. Sonny Perdue, will
make a dedication speech.
Organizers also invited fire and
safety personnel and area elect
ed officials.
MCDONALD from 1A
Republicans against one
another in a party battle.
"Stephens' campaign will
dig back through his
[McDonald's] record in the
Legislature.” said Bullock.
"While Stephens was working
for Democrats back then, he
didn't have to vote."
Bullock said that the influx
of new residents to Forsyth
and Cherokee counties, who
are also new Georgians, will
make McDonald’s legislative
service, including chairing the
House Appropriations Com
mittee. less of a positive for
the former lawmaker.
"They [new voters] are
clueless about that," said
Bullock.
The political observer said
that Stephens will tout his role
as Senate majority leader and
his recent efforts on behalf of
Forsyth.
“He'll [Stephens] be hand
ing out architectural 1 sketches
of that new library," said
Bullock, referring to the sena
tor's endeavor to add money
for an expansion of the head
quarters library in Forsyth.
One asset that McDonald
will likely highlight is his
eight years as president of
Georgians for Better
Transportation, the organiza
tion now headed by former
Fulton County Commission
Chairman Mike Kenn.
“1 want to utilize my previ
ous experience in business and
the Legislature, my talent for
building relationships at the
"It’s supposed to be a nice
day,” Szabo said. “I think this
year will be the best.”
Meanwhile, to celebrate the
numerous past and present vol
unteers of the Great American
Cleanup, KFCB has scheduled
its inaugural Earth Day Fest for
Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
at Central Park.
“It’s a big thank-you for all
the volunteers," said Jennifer
Szabo, resource coordinator of
KFCB.
The four-hour celebration,
which is open to the public, will
feature face painting, a
Space Walk and games.
Entertainment will include The
Plainsmen Drum and Dance
Troupe, who will perform
Native American dances and
storytelling. Also, LaVergne
Beyer, birds of prey rehabilita
tor, will present “Close
Encounters of the Bird Kind”
featuring displays of live owls
and hawks.
Szabo said there isn’t any
charge for admission because
regional and state level, as
well as my in-depth under
standing of the transportation
needs of our region to contin
ue the progress we are making
in Forsyth and Cherokee coun
ties." said McDonald in a
statement released by his cam
paign.
When told of McDonald's
decision to run. Stephens said
he was ready for the cam
paign.
“I look forward to talking
about my record and about his
record and about two different
visions for Georgia,” said
Stephens in a telephone inter
view.
McDonald formerly owned
a hardware and building sup
ply business in Commerce. He
presently has ownership in two
funeral homes and a cemetery.
His Forsyth County business,
McDonald and Son Funeral
Home and Crematory, opened
in 1997.
McDonald, who resides in
south Forsyth, is married to
the former Sunny Nivens of
Gainesville. They have one
son. Lauren McDonald 111,
who is coroner of Forsyth
County.
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Forsyth County News
J Your "Homrtmn Paptr" Siact 1908 J
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Phone: 770-887-3126 Fax: 770-889-6017
Internet Address: www.forsythnews.com
Publisher DENNIS STOCKTON
/fc/WftVSA General Manager NORMAN BAGGS
I .lllaJV •/ Edhor TOM SPIGOLON
Advertising Director MARTI BARNES
Circulation Director PHIL JONES
MEMBER
Published Sunday. Wednesday. Thursday and Friday by the Forsyth County News
Company. Veterans Memorial Blvd.. Cumming, Ga. Second Class Postage paid at
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Classified Line Advertising Deadlines
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the celebration is to thank
KFCB volunteers. “Everything
is free,” she said, “unless it’s
food and raffle tickets.”
The general public can pur
chase raffle tickets for $1 each.
However, volunteers will have
earned their tickets in the Great
American Cleanup. The pro
ceeds will go towards KFCB.
Raffle prizes include a Red
Leaf Weeping Japanese Maple,
which was donated by ENVI
RON Associates, a camping kit,
donated by Tyson Foods, and a
portable TV, donated by Junk
Express.
The Great American
Cleanup is a monthlong nation
wide initiative coordinated
locally by KFCB.
Deaths
Judith Ann Swisher
Britton
Mrs. Judith Ann Swisher
Britton, 55, of Suwanee died
Monday, April 19, 2004.
Mrs. Britton was a school
bus driver for the Fulton
County school system for nine
years. She was a Methodist by
faith. She was preceded in
death by her father, Wilbert
Swisher, and brother, Jimmy
Swisher.
Survivors include husband.
Edward Britton of Suwanee;
children, Robyn Pawlus,
George Britton, both of Ohio;
grandchildren. Samantha
Britton of Suwanee, Sarah,
Steven and Abigail Pawlus,
Sabrina, Patricia, and Shauna
McCune. George Britton Jr.,
all of Ohio; mother. Marjorie
Peck Swisher of Ohio; brother
and sister-in-law. Gary and
Nadya Swisher of sister
and brother-in-law, Susan and
Tommy Akin of Cumming; a
number of other relatives also
survive.
Funeral services are
Saturday. April 24. at 10 a.m.
at Holf-Shorac Funeral Home
in Ohio.
In lieu of flowers, dona
tions may be made to the
Kidney Foundation or the
Diabetes Foundation of
America.
Ingram Funeral Home was
in charge of local arrange
ments.
Forsyth Counts News
April 22, 2004