Dalton Fire Chief Todd Pangle shakes hands with new Instructor Robbie Townsend at Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Dalton Public Safety Commission
At Tuesday morning’s meeting of the Dalton Public Safety Commission, Firefighter III Robbie Townsend was assigned to the Dalton Fire Department’s Training Division as an instructor. The reassignment fills the vacancy left by Keith Dempsey’s promotion last month to Training Division Coordinator.
Mr.
Townsend has served with the fire department since March 2008. He was promoted to the rank of Firefighter III in September 2014. He has already been active with training junior firefighters assigned to his shift. Mr. Townsend has been a physical training instructor with the department’s recruit program for several years and has also served as an instructor with the Georgia Smoke Diver program.
Mr. Townsend’s reassignment as an instructor was confirmed by unanimous 3-0 vote of the Public Safety Commission. Commission members Carlos Calderin and Keith Whitworth were not in attendance.
Also at Tuesday morning’s meeting, the hiring of six new firefighters was confirmed by unanimous 3-0 vote of the commission. New recruits Andrew Carlson, Caleb Carlson, Chris Dennis, Cody Manly, Chris Smith, and Egan Stanley are taking part in the fire department’s Recruit School training program.
Andrew Carlson is a graduate of Ball State University where he was a member of the swim team with a degree in exercise science.
Caleb Carlson is a graduate of Coahulla Creek High School in Whitfield County where he ran cross country and track. He is a member of the Army National Guard.
Chris Dennis has previously served with the fire departments in Murray County, Chatsworth, and Bartow County and comes to Dalton from Summersville, Missouri.
Cody Manly is a graduate of Abraham Baldwin College with an associate’s degree in diversified agriculture. He previously served with the Whitfield County Fire Department. His great-great-grandfather was Dalton Fire Chief Frank Manly who served from 1894-1896 and 1904-1908.
Egan Stanley graduated from Southeast High School and has a certificate in business management from Dalton State College.