Suches Fire Department

Union County Fire Station No. 5 


For Emergency call 911
For non emergency call 747-5741
E-mail

Suches Fire Department Receives Grant

Regular Meeting Schedule

First Tuesday of each month at 8 pm ~ Business Meeting
Second Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm ~ Emergency medical training
Fourth Tuesday of each month at 7:30 pm ~ Fire training
The Suches Fire Department was organized in 1983 as a part of the new county-wide fire department and was quartered in a single bay building with the voting precinct. We still vote there but the elections now share the space with the pre-k program and the fire department is across the parking lot in a new building. About a dozen men were trained as basic firefighters and the equipment consisted of a Georgia Forestry Commission rural fire defense "fireknocker". Over the years we have increased our numbers, level of training and equipment. The thirty men and women in the department now train to a basic 60 hour course and many are certified as first class firefighters. The majority are emergency medical first responders and several are EMTs and one a PARAMEDIC. Several more are currently in EMT training. Our vehicle list has grown from the single fireknocker and now includes a GFC tanker, a class A pumper, a rescue vehicle, a 4 WD pick-up with a brush fire unit and a 4 WD suburban used for remote area rescue access and as a staff vehicle. The vehicles were obtained through the combined efforts of the county and the community.

The departments primary mandate is fighting residential fires, but we have very few. The members are pleased that we maintain our fire fighting fitness through training rather than practice. In the past several years much of our call volume has dealt with emergency medical matters and we have placed a lot of emphasis on this aspect of our operation. In addition to the training already mentioned, our state certified rescue truck carries much more emergency medical equipment and supplies than  required. Along with IV supplies for the EMTs and oxygen we have an AED (automatic external defibrillator) for "jump-starting" heart attack victims and a pulse oximeter. This "extra" equipment has proven its value many times in this remote area where ambulance response times are necessarily long.

The Suches Fire Department also tries to be a good citizen outside our lights and sirens operations. We have sponsored square dances for the community as well as the annual Independence Day fireworks. We host the annual Christmas tree lighting sponsored by the Gaddistown Homemakers as well as other meetings from time to time. Each year in February we sponsor the Suches CPR Saturday in which free CPR classes are offered to local health care providers as well as to the general public. The department gives an appreciation dinner and open house each Summer to thank the community for their support, particularly the response to our annual fund-raising letter drive.

The station is manned each evening for training, meetings and maintenance and the public is always welcome to visit.

Lil’ Ol’ Volunteer Fire Department

(A true story that never happened)

The story is told that several years ago Hughes, ”Preacher”, Chatham our late EMA director was on his way to a conference in Hawaii with a planeload of big city EMA folks who were giving him a bit of a hard time about his country ways. As they flew over the Mississippi River they said he probably didn’t have anything like that in Union County and he answered “No, but we’ve got the purtiest, clearest trout streams you’d ever want to see.” Crossing the plains states with their massive farms, they said he surely didn’t have the likes of that in North Georgia and he replied no but “we’ve got peppers and silver queen corn and sorghum, the best in the world, in our small mountain farms”. Looking out over the Rockies, they suggested that he had no such mountains in the Appalachians and he had to agree, but that those Appalachians were more welcoming and comforting to people living there than the stark Rockies. Crossing the Pacific Ocean brought the inevitable comment that there was surely nothing like that in all of North Georgia and Hughes answered that there wasn’t but we had a host of beautiful lakes with good fishing and limitless opportunities for recreation. As they neared their destination, they flew over a violently erupting volcano and it was offered that such not only did not exist in his home but there was nothing to make any sort of comparison with, to which Preacher replied:

“You’re right, boys; we’ve got nothing to compare to that mess down there, but I’ve got me a lil’ ol’ volunteer fire department in Suches that’d have the thing put out in a half an hour”.

Fire Safety Videos Available at Suches Fire Station
In the aftermath of the recent large forest fire in the Suches area, the local fire station has obtained some videotapes which deal with the "Urban/Wildland Interface" or those areas where manmade structures and activities come into contact with woodlands or other wild areas. The tapes were produced by a number of agencies such as the U.S. Forest service, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and several agencies within the U.S. Department of the Interior. All of which deal with wildfires and their frequent effect on homes and other personal property. Some of the videos deal with fire fighting practices and procedures and will be used as training material for the men and women of the department. The remainder, four in all, are information designed for  the public. One is an overview of the Urban/Wildland interface issue, including fire wise construction methods. The other three deal with landscaping in this environment, planning, construction and maintenance. These videos are available for loan from the fire department to individuals and groups. In addition to the taped training material, the public is welcome to contact the station to make arrangements to discuss any matters relating to making homes fire safe in the community. The fire station is manned during evening hours and the public is always welcome.

 

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