Cobb Fire & Emergency Services celebrate 50 years

For 50 years, Cobb County Fire and Emergency Services have been serving Cobb residents and businesses - now an estimated 757,000 residents within the county’s 345-mile territory.

A ceremony was held April 13 by the Cobb County Board of Commissioners (BOC) to honor the department.

“We ask the residents of Cobb County to join us in celebrating 50 years of heroism and in appreciation for all who served unselfishly to save lives,” according to the BOC resolution.

Under the leadership of Fire Chief Bill Johnson, the sixth fire chief, “there are 794 approved positions, 29 fire stations, a Cobb County Safety Village and a dedicated Fire Recruit Training Academy,” the BOC resolution added.

Public Safety Director Randy Crider noted that Cobb’s first fire chief, W. David

Hilton, was the president of the International Fire Chiefs Association and the creator of the residential sprinkler system - “that is huge.”

In 2017, Cobb Fire attained an ISO 1 ranking that is held by less than 1 percent of all U.S. fire departments, “providing the lowest insurance cost to our businesses and homeowners,” Crider said.

Crider said the department is an accredited agency through the Center for Public Safety Excellence.

“Cobb Fire is one of the elite,” Crider added.

In 1955, Georgia adopted legislation to create fire districts in counties, according to the BOC resolution.

In Cobb County, fire districts would be financed by levying a tax on property owners protected in each district.

By 1964, eight districts had been established in Cobb, covering the entire county except the cities of Marietta, Smyrna and Austell.