ORFD hosts Firewise workshop

On August 10, 2012 the Oak Ridge Fire Department hosted a Firewise workshop at Pollard Auditorium. The workshop was put on by the Tennessee Division of Forestry and the ORFD to help local officials and community leaders gain a better understanding of the Firewise concepts.  People from four different counties attended this one day seminar and participated in lecture activities as well as group learning projects. 

Dr. Shep Zetiker from Virginia Tech University was the guest speaker and brought over 30 years of experience in dealing with wildland urban interface problems to the event.  Participants in the program ranged from city planners to local fire chiefs. 

The National Fire Protection Association's (NFPA) Firewise Communities program encourages local solutions for wildfire safety by involving homeowners, community leaders, planners, developers, firefighters, and others in the effort to protect people and property from wildfire risks.
The program is co-sponsored by the USDA Forest Service, the US Department of the Interior, and the National Association of State Foresters.

For more information about the Firewise program visit http://firewise.org/.

Several ORFD Firefighters Receive New Certifications

Assistant Chief Josh Waldo reports that the Oak Ridge Fire Department training division recently got test results back from the State fire commission for several ORFD employees.

Congratulations to the following people for continuing their education and obtaining higher certification levels:

Firefighter II  

Adam Daugherty

Pumper Driver Operator

Seth Burnett

Fire Instructor I

Craig Humphrey

Joey Smith

Kevin Brown

Brandon Hitchcock

Stephen King

Austin Keathley

Matt Lougheed

Steve London

Ben Taylor

Matt Freshour

ORFD Training News

For Immediate Release

August 7, 2012

OAK RIDGE FIRE DEPARTMENT FINISHES SECOND IN TRAINING HOURS AT STATE FIRE ACADEMY

Oak Ridge, Tenn.—Fire Chief Darryl Kerley released information about the fire department’s total training hours through the Tennessee Fire and Codes Academy for fiscal year 2012.      

Tennessee Fire and Codes Academy Director Roger Hawks recently informed the Oak Ridge Fire Department that they completed 3,970 hours of training which ranked 2^nd in the state out of 734 fire departments. 

Members of the Oak Ridge Fire Department completed training in multiple disciplines such as basic firefighter, arson investigation, fire instructor, fire officer, and pump operations.  The training hours through the academy require a tremendous amount of time and dedication by the members of the organization but only represent a portion of the training completed by Oak Ridge Fire Department members.  As of July 31 members of the ORFD have completed a total of 9,397 hours of training since January 1 through the State Academy, the National Fire Academy, and in-house training.  The department strives to see that each member of the organization achieves 240 hours of training per firefighter each year as required by the National Fire Protection Association and the Insurance Service Office.

As a result of these recent trainings the department recently had 10 members achieve national certification as Fire Instructor I. 

For Information contact: Josh Waldo @ 865-382-7267