News
January 19, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
DeKalb County Volunteer Firefighter Jordan Lader of the Johnson’s Chapel Station received the DeKalb Telephone Cooperative (DTC) Rookie of the Year Award Saturday night during the annual department awards program.
The award was presented by Captain/Training Officer Brian Williams. Training is the sole criteria used in the Rookie of the Year selection
“ During Firefighter Lader’s 12-month rookie period, he completed 185 hours of training which includes completion of the 64-hour Basic Firefighter Training and the 22-hour Live Burn Training at the Fire Academy. In addition, he has completed a long list of extra training courses to improve his firefighting skills. “We certainly want to recognize recruits who demonstrate an outstanding level of commitment to training. Our department is fortunate to have an excellent group of recruits who have contributed to our department being recognized with elite training awards for 12 consecutive years. We are proud of all of them and are honored to present this award to Firefighter Jordan Lader,” said Captain Williams.
Meanwhile, the Liberty Station was honored with the First Bank Station of the Year Award.
Lieutenant Kristie Johnson presented the award.
“This award is selected from among the 12 stations of the DeKalb County Fire Department based upon community service and work sessions provided by the station. In 2020, the Liberty Station excelled in both these criteria by demonstrating commitment to training through station drills, participating in the response team deployment to the Putnam County tornado event in March, volunteering to help remove a large tree from an elderly couple’s lawn in Dowelltown, participating in the DeKalb West School “Welcome Back to School” in August, hosting a community Halloween Give-Back Event in Liberty, and several members assisted with the preparation and delivery of the Thanksgiving meal program hosted by the DeKalb Emergency Services Association. In December, the station selected 3 needy families in the Liberty/Dowelltown communities for which they provided Christmas dinner and gifts for the children. “Based upon the excellent community service and display of station pride, the Liberty Station was awarded this recognition by our panel of sponsorship judges,” said Lt. Johnson.
Area county health departments currently dealing with limited supply or no vaccine for COVID-19
January 19, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
According to the state department of health’s website, some counties in Middle Tennessee including DeKalb do not have COVID-19 vaccines currently available at their health departments.
Warren, DeKalb, Cannon, White, and Smith counties are among those listed for being out of the COVID-19 treatment. Putnam and Wilson counties have a limited supply of the vaccine. The website lists each county and how to make an appointment for the first doses depending on the current phase.
https://covid19.tn.gov/vaccine_phase/dekalb-county/
Meanwhile the COVID-19 related death count in DeKalb County has increased to 41.
As of Monday, January 18, DeKalb County recorded 6 new cases bringing the total number of active cases to 209.
Forty one people with COVID 19 have died in DeKalb County within the last 11 months and 45 have been hospitalized. The total number of confirmed or probable cases of COVID 19 in DeKalb County since March stands at 2,423 and 2.173 are now inactive or have recovered.
At last report, DeKalb County had the 59th highest COVID-19 infection rate among Tennessee counties (per capita) and the 1,543rd highest in the nation according to COVID ACT Now (CAN).
(Click link below to view CAN report on DeKalb County)
https://www.covidactnow.org/us/tennessee-tn/county/de_kalb_county?
Over the last seven days, DeKalb County had a case count of 79 for a daily case rate of 55.1 per 100,000 residents and the average positive percentage was 18.4%
(Click Link Below for DeKalb County Report)
https://covid19.tn.gov/data/dashboards/?County=Dekalb
DeKalb Fire Department honors its own during annual awards program
January 18, 2021
By: Dwayne Page
The DeKalb County Fire Department recognized and honored a few of its own during the annual awards program held Saturday evening in a virtual setting this year due to COVID-19.
Two of the prestigious awards went to Lieutenant Dustin Johnson, who for the 3rd year captured the Liberty State Bank Officer of the Year honor while Lieutenant Blake Cantrell was selected to receive the Allen’s Allstars “Git R Done” Award.
(WJLE will have another forthcoming story on other fire department award winners)
In presenting the Officer Award, Chief Donny Green paid tribute to Johnson for his leadership skills and community service.
“As one of our lieutenants and Fire Prevention/Safety Officer, Dusty Johnson continues to grow in his leadership skills and does a tremendous job leading, planning, coordinating, and scheduling free smoke alarm installations and providing fire prevention/safety events for our community. Lt. Johnson is among the top when it comes to incident responses and training attendance. He unselfishly donates his construction skills and equipment to make improvements to our department. Lastly, he sacrifices his time for community service. As a member of the DeKalb Emergency Services Association, he played a big role in helping plan, prepare, and deliver over 500 free meals last Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve. Dusty also serves our community in his role as Captain of the Smithville/DeKalb County Rescue Squad and he is also an active Emergency Medical Responder with DeKalb County Emergency Medical Services,” said Chief Green.
Captain Jay Cantrell then praised Lieutenant Blake Cantrell for his “Git-R-Done” commitment to the department.
“Lt. Cantrell continuously shares his technology skills and goes well beyond his required duties as Lieutenant and Communications Officer. He is always willing to take on new projects, stays on task, and is always prompt. He prioritizes training and call response while still doing all these extra things that makes our department better prepared to serve and respond. With his excellent information technology skills, Blake has gone above and beyond by maintaining our security equipment, text messaging system, radios, pagers, and computers, and installing video cameras in our county-wide fleet. As for community service, it would be hard to find anyone more involved in our community. Blake is a former President of the DeKalb Emergency Services Association (DESA) and has led many community service projects including the Thanksgiving and Christmas Eve meal preparation and delivery projects where over 500 meals were delivered on each occasion. Blake demonstrates the model of a “Git-R-Done” firefighter,” said Captain Cantrell.
Wilson Bank & Trust was the headlining sponsor of the program.
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