Cherokee County Fire Training Complex

Forty-seven new fire recruits graduated from firefighter recruit school during ceremonies held Saturday at the Woodstock First Baptist Church. The event began w...ith an invocation by Fire Chaplain, Don Williams, followed by the presentation of colors by the Cherokee County Fire Explorer Post #469 and the singing of the national anthem by Jedidiah Martin. Before the presentation of the certificates of completion, a slideshow was shown and gifts were presented to some of the fire training officers by class spokespersons, Anthony Ciorba and Kelsey Millsaps. Four special achievement awards were presented to three members of the recruit class. The W. Clark Waters' Jr. Honor Graduate Award was presented to Tyler Russell. The award was named on behalf of Clark Waters, a Cherokee County firefighter, who passed away in 2004. The recipient of the Pinnacle Award for striving to "reach the top" due to dedication and hard-work in the firefighter recruit school class was presented to Beau Witcher. The Star of Life Award in honor of Dr. Jill Mabley, who is currently the Medical Director for the fire department, was presented to Alex Hart and Kevin McArthur was presented with the Academic Award. Assistant Fire Chief, Eddie Robinson, came forward and congratulated the new recruits and welcomed them to the Cherokee County Fire family. Cherokee County Fire Chief, Tim Prather, came to the podium to say a few words then asked the recruits to stand for the firefighter oath and the presentation of their certificates of completion. Those recruits receiving certificates were: Conner Bourn, Matthew Brooks, Desmond Chavarria, Anthony Ciorba, Aubrey Clark, Asheton Collins, Amanda DeWoody, Tate Dill, Bonn Ellerbee, Jonathan Escobar, Jeffery Garrett, Joseph Gates, Alfonso Gavina, Evan Groet, William Hamby, Alex Hart, Matthew Hickey, Cameron Hubbard, Chance Huffschmidt, Christopher LaFontaine, Ryan Laughridge, Jonathan Laurich, Henry Le, Trenton Mackey, Brian Magill, Sean Markham, Kevin McArthur, Kelsey Millsaps, Tyler Morgan, Matthew Mosely, Jacob Murphy, Grant Newton, Nevin O’Hearn, Austin Owen, Tyler Russell, David Scalf, Christopher Shorts, Caleb Smalley, Benjamin Smith, Lucas Vasquez, Timothy Vickery, Scott Ward, Alex Weaver, Heath Weekly, Mason Williams, Beau Witcher, and Michael Zuchegno. Congratulations to the new graduates!

The latest group of fire recruits were at the Cherokee County Fire Training Center last week to learn more about two of the fire department’s most basic tools, ...the fire hose and ladder. According to Sgt. Chris Martin, one of the training coordinators, The recruits are learning the basics today like hose management, hose dragging, connecting hoses to a fire hydrant and raising ladders. Approximately 25 fire recruits were going through the exercises last week as they continue their training to become a full-time firefighter.

Cherokee County Fire Recruits spent the day last Friday to help Habitat for Humanity build a new home. Habitat for Humanity is a nonprofit organization that he...lps families build and improve places to call home. According to fire recruit, Beau Witcher, We are given the opportunity to do community service as a part of the recruit program. So, we looked at different areas throughout the county in which we could help and one of those was Habitat for Humanity, so we decided to give them a call. David Young, Construction Manager for Habitat for Humanity said, Two weeks ago last Tuesday, my director did not have a day this week for volunteers and I needed some to help with the paint and siding. My mother has this thing of when she prays, miracles happen and I inherited that from her and I told the director that I was going to pray about this. Thirty minutes after I left the office, the director called and said the recruits had called her to volunteer. The recruits worked to finish putting the siding on the home which is 1280 square foot in size and will be a 3 bedroom and 2 baths home. Young praised the recruits for the work they done that day. They were awesome. They listened very well and called me sir all day and I loved that. They were great and I would have them any time, any day, he added. The Cherokee Fire Recruits who worked on the home were; Scott Brooks, Desmond Chavarria, Anthony Ciorba, Asheton Collins, Amanda DeWoody, Joseph Gates, Matthew Hickey, Cameron Hubbard, Chance Huffschmidt, Chris Lafontaine, Ryan Laughridge, Jonathan Laurich, Jacob Murphy, Neven O’Hearn, Austin Owen, David Scalf, Caleb Smalley, Scott Ward, Alex Weaver, Mason Williams, Beau Witcher, Michael Zuchegn and Ryan Crump. The home, which is located on Lusk Court Road off Highway 20, is being built for a family of four from West Africa. The home will have its official dedication on August 10th.

Firefighters are dedicated to come to a person’s aid during a time of emergency. However, when the call came out to help one of their own, they took action. Lo...gan Droke, a 17 year old senior at Creekview High School and a former Cherokee County Fire Explorer is currently battling leukemia for the 4th time since 2011. He is also the son of Cherokee County Firefighter, Randall Droke, who works at Fire Station #1 located off Bells Ferry Road. Logan was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) in 2011 when he was 9 years old. The cancer went into remission, but came back in 2015 and went into remission again and came back again last summer. His doctors decided to have him undergo CAR-T Therapy. This is a type of treatment in which a patient's cells are changed in the laboratory so they will attack cancerous cells. Logan began feeling better after this therapy and experienced eight months of a somewhat normal life for a teen. Unfortunately, Logan’s cancer resurfaced again. His doctors began chemotherapy and are urgently looking into trial treatment options which may include traveling to another state for treatment. Unfortunately, in December of 2018, Logan’s mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Because it was caught early and treated swiftly, she is now doing well, but still has to undergo some additional surgery. The family at home also consists of three other school-aged children and an insulin-dependent grandparent who also needs care. Logan is definitely a fighter and he expressed his thoughts by saying this in a recent essay he had written, Throughout my life I have always known my dad to be a hard worker and if he really wanted to do something he would do his best to make it happen. When my dad started the process to become a firefighter I was amazed. I always knew he was going to make it in, but the amount of effort he put in was just the greatest thing I have been able to witness my dad do. He was 45 years old when he decided to make this career change (the oldest guy in his training class) while working another job at the same time as his training. He would train all day, come home and study, do his other job, take care of us and start all over the next day. Watching him never give up and never complain has helped me in my fight against my cancer. 'Whatever it takes' is the motto that my dad has passed down to me. When he puts his mind to it, my father has to finish whatever he has started. Quitting and giving up is never an option for him. While my dad was going through his training to become a firefighter, my cancer came back. There have been many months of treatment and hospital stays, but I know because of my dad’s example and having him at my side that I will never give up, I will fight hard and do whatever it takes. In order to help the family with medical expenses, firefighters from neighboring Cobb County recently sold wallets that were handmade by the Droke family at the Metro Atlanta Firefighters Conference (MAFFC). Representatives from the conference and Battalion Chiefs from the Cobb County Fire Department stopped by Station #1 on Wednesday night and presented the proceeds from the sale that totaled over $3,200. Firefighters from all over the country have sent short videos to Logan encouraging him to stay strong. According to Lt. Brady Cornelison, a Cherokee County firefighter at Station #1, He (Logan) has had get well wishes from fire departments throughout the state, plus, he has also heard from departments in Las Vegas, Florida, Texas and New Jersey, too. Cornelison also started a Go Fund Me account to help the Droke family with medical expenses. If you would like to help the family, please go to www.gofundme.com and search for The Droke Family in order to make a donation. Logan is currently in Scottish Rite Hospital, however, he plans to attend his high school graduation next Friday night at Woodstock First Baptist Church.

CCFES Recruit Class 2019-01 showing love for Logan Droke and the Droke family during Logan’s battle! Keep up the fight!