The City of Blakely Fire Department helps protect over 13,000 citizens and over 500 square miles in Blakely and Early County. We provide fire suppression and rescue services for the City of Blakely and support the Early County Volunteer fire department through an intergovernmental agreement. We also provide the “Jaws of Life” rescue equipment. We assist the Emergency Medical Services with vehicle accidents and other medical calls. In addition to emergency calls, we provide a fire prevention division that offers fire safety programs to schools and any organization that requests a class.
Personnel
We have fifteen career personnel supported by eight volunteers. We operate with a minimum daily staffing of four firefighters per shift, in addition to our on-call fire chief.
Equipment
We currently operate four fully equipped fire engine pumpers along with a 55’ telesquirt, a rescue/brush fire vehicle, a hazardous materials unit, and a chief’s vehicle. We maintain three sets of vehicle rescue equipment.
Fire Prevention
The fire department obtained a 35’ fire safety house through the Assistance to Firefighters grant in 2001. Since then, approximately 10,000 children and adults have toured the safety house. Our firefighters make annual visits to local schools, as well as making it available to surrounding counties for schools, senior centers, and health fairs. If you would like to schedule the safety house or a fire safety program for your school or organization please call 229-723-5150 and we will make every effort to fulfill your request. Fire Prevention Week is the second week in October.
Training
Firefighters average 240 training hours per year and are required to complete state mandated training in order to be re-certified each year. Much of the training is completed on site with the use a 55’ propane operated mobile live fire trainer obtained through a Homeland Security Grant. Firefighters have one year to meet the requirements of the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council.
We have a nationally certified fire instructor and three state certified Emergency Medical Technicians on staff. If a fire department would like to request use of our fire instructor, please call 229-723-3511 for more information.
To boost volunteerism and promote firefighting as a career, we founded the Early County High School Junior Firefighter Program. For more information, contact the Blakely Fire Department at 229-723-3511 or the ECHS at 229-723-3006.