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| Fort Oglethorpe Fire and Rescue Holds Annual Awards Banquet FORT OGLETHORPE, GA – On Friday, December 4, 2009, the Fort Oglethorpe Fire and Rescue Department held its annual Christmas Dinner and Awards Ceremony at the Colonnade in Ringgold, Georgia. After being greeted by the Chief of the Department, Bruce Ballew, and an invocation by the Department Chaplain Neal Brown, attendees were treated to a nice buffet dinner and slide show of pictures from various fires, accidents and other incidents of 2009. Once the dinner was concluded, the following persons were recognized. Captain Robbie Tester recognized members of the board of directors of the Post Volunteer Fire Department (the volunteer portion of Fort Oglethorpe Fire and Rescue). Those members are, Lt. Larry Jackson, Sgt. Gary Carlock, Captain Ron Kibble and Captain Charles Correll. Battalion Chief Gary McGhee announced the following promotions: Rookie; Dennis Gates Private; J.T. Colom Tobey Hill Corporal; Kelly Correll Thomas Smith Sergeant; Chris Salter Drew Tapley Dave Petty Unit citations were then given to Stations 1, 8 and 10, Support Services, Chief Bruce Ballew, Assistant Chiefs Clay Ellis and Glenn Davis, Battalion Chiefs Doug Flury and Gary McGhee and Chaplain Neal Brown for the work done during the severe flooding of September 20-22, 2009 when hundreds of people had to be rescued by members of the fire department. Chief Ellis then presented years of service awards to: Steve Brandon and Holly Salter of Support Services for 5 years, Sgt. Gerald Brown and Chaplain Neal Brown for 10 years and Captain Connie Haddock, Lt. Tom Lowrance and Battalion Chief Gary McGhee for 20 years. The explorers of the department were recognized for their hard work and determination. They are: Abby Salter, Austin Case, Caleb Ziegler, Chris Dean, Danielle Carter, PJ Kellam, Ryan Sawyers, Tyler Kapherr, Zane Gleaves and Leo Lovitt. Sgt. Chris Salter also received special recognition for his work with the explorers. Receiving awards for perfect attendance at all training were Sgt. Gary Carlock (2 years) and Battalion Chief Gary McGhee (2 years), Sgt. Major Tim Pierce and Chief Bruce Ballew each with four years. Sgt. Lisa Swinney was awarded the EMS Award of Excellence for the year.. Private Tobey Hill was recognized as the Rookie of the Year and Corporal Kelly Correll was presented with Firefighter of the Year. Captain Connie Haddock was given the award for Officer of the Year. While all personnel were cited for being involved in the many rescues during the flooding, one incident stood out. During the flooding two young teenagers decided to go tubing on one of the many waterways that had flooded and were flowing rapidly downstream. These teenagers were quickly overcome by the powerful waters, lost their tube and swept away. They were noticed by many of the residents trying to escape the flooding residences and the fire department was notified. By then, darkness has descended over the area and flood waters prevented a lot of maneuvering of the fire apparatus. Once the children were located, fire crews immediately began attempting to access them by wading through the even deepening waters. Once they came close, Sgt. Dave Petty took it upon himself to be the one person to wade through chest high water to reach one victim, bring him to safety and then go after the second, rescuing him as well. For the heroism displayed in this event, Sgt. Petty was awarded the Medal of Valor. After the awards were given out, closing remarks were made by Chief Ballew, a prayer by Assistant Chaplain Steve Brandon and then the children present were visited by none other than Santa Claus. |
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