Fire-Rescue

The Fire-Rescue Department’s primary funding source is the insurance premium tax. These proceeds are specifically earmarked to provide fire protection for the entire county. Since the revenues generated from the insurance premium tax does not cover all of the Fire Fund’s expenses, the General Fund must transfer funds to the Fire Fund to pay for normal operating expenses. The county’s fire-rescue department is responsible for protecting all unincorporated areas of Gordon County, but also currently provides coverage for the cities of Plainville, Resaca, Ranger, and Fairmount. The fire-rescue department also provides mutual aid service to the Calhoun Fire Department, as well as neighboring counties and municipalities.

The fire-rescue department provides many services, such as fire suppression, medical first responder, fire prevention to include plan review, fire code enforcement, fire/arson investigations, fire safety education, fire hydrant plotting, service & testing, pre-incident planning of county businesses, and the buildings they occupy detailing the layout and possible hazardous material locations.

The department also works with other emergency service agencies by providing personnel and equipment to make up the NW GA Joint Hazardous Materials Team and Task Force 6 of the Georgia Search & Rescue teams.

The department also conducts extensive in-house training in areas such as medical first responder, basic firefighter course for paid per-call members, training in the National Incident Management System (NIMS) (emergency response planning and training as required by the federal Department of Homeland Security for federal grant purposes), annual fire hose testing, and the state required annual hours of continuing education and required ISO hours. The department also provides and installs smoke alarms for citizens.

The fire-rescue department currently maintains 3 combination stations that utilize both career and paid per-call members, and seven paid per-call (unmanned) stations. The fire-rescue department also currently maintains 11 engines, 3 tankers, 8 rescue vehicles, and various other vehicles and equipment for protecting the citizens of Gordon County.

Contact Information:
Gordon County Fire-Rescue Headquarters
218 Public Safety Drive SE Calhoun, GA 30701
Phone: 706-629-8851  |  Fax: 706-629-1023
Doug Ralston, Fire Chief

Office Hours
Monday – Friday, 8:30 am – 5:00 pm