Whitfield County firefighters honored at virtual banquet

Published 2:00 pm Wednesday, December 9, 2020

In ordinary times, the Whitfield County Fire Department honors its members each November at the annual Firefighter’s Banquet at the Dalton Golf & Country Club.

Of course, these are far from ordinary times, but even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the department managed to find a way to honor its members, holding the 43rd annual banquet virtually through the use of the internet and Zoom.

“We wanted to recognize our employees even though we could not meet together,” Fire Chief Ed O’Brien said.

Tyler Warnix was selected as Career Firefighter of the Year, while Kade West was named Firefighter of the Year (given to the top pay-per-call member of the department).

Receiving awards for significant years of service were:

• 40 years: Battalion Chief Kevin McDermott.

• 30 years: Lt. Dennis Arnold, Battalion Chief Chris Dempsey, Lt. Kerry Robinson and Lt. Chris West.

• 25 years: Lt. Darrin Burnette and Lt. Mike Murphree.

• 10 years: Engineer Allen Gallman.

• 5 years: Lt. Garner Hall and Engineers Christian Chadwick, Justin Hutcherson, Oliver Nunez and Jon Wakefield.