White County CERT Graduates Receive Certificates
News October 23, 2017
Back Row (Left to Right) Roy Stevens, Chuck Blaine, Dann Morris, Victor Torregeano, John LaPree, Sandi Hengle, Scott Bishop, Jerry Davis, Director of White County Public Safety David Murphy. Middle Row (Left to Right) Barbara Blaine, Leah Torregeano, Robert Becker, Darlene Becker, Linda Lifsey, Front Row John Wilson
CLEVELAND, Ga. — White County Office of Public Safety Director David Murphy presented graduation certificates last week to 12 individuals who recently completed the 30 hour Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) training program.
The program trains volunteers to prepare for the types of disasters that their community may face.
In a press release, Murphy said, “After Irma, the call went out for assistance and White County CERT members were there. They made a difference in the lives of many of our friends and neighbors. CERT Teams cleared the roads so emergency vehicles could get through. They staffed a shelter for those on medical devices who needed power. They assisted at a food & shower comfort station. CERT members provided behind-the-scenes assistance in staging vital emergency equipment and administratively assisted at several locations. Because of White County’s CERT teams’ dedication and willingness to help our friends and neighbors, they mitigated the damaging effects of a disastrous situation. They touched the lives and hearts of our community.”
White County CERT has established the following teams to prepare and assist White County in times of need.
* Administrative
* Chainsaw
* Communications
* Community Education
* Equipment
* Medical Reserve Corps
* Search & Rescue
* Shelter Management
* Speakers Bureau
* Training
* Youth Programs
CERT Basic Course is delivered in the community by a team of first responders, and other qualified volunteers. The organization and timing of training and meeting varies from program to program. It is often broken up into two to four hour blocks over a series of evenings or weekends.
White County Office of Public Safety has announced the next CERT training program will begin January 16 and will continue through March 27. Classes will be held every Tuesday from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the White County Senior Center, 1239 Helen Highway in Cleveland. For more information or to sign up, please call 706-865-9500. This is a free class but class size is limited.
Wildfire Community Preparedness Day May 6
News April 21, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ga. — Residents of north Georgia got a first-hand look at how devastating wildfires can be this year. Now, White County Public Safety, the National Fire Protection Association and State Farm will observe the fourth annual Wildfire Community Preparedness Day Saturday, May 6 to help communities prepare for and work together to reduce their risk of wildfire damage.
On that day, White County Public Safety will host Information Day at Ingles, 55 Helen Highway in Cleveland from 10 a.m. until 2p.m. in an effort to bring together people of all ages to explain how to plan and participate in a risk-reduction or wildfire preparedness activity that makes their community a safer place to live.
“Continued drought, hotter temperatures and carelessness are major contributors to the increased wildfire activity we are experiencing in Georgia,” says David Murphy, Public Safety Director of White County. “That’s why White County Public Safety has organized our Information Day at Ingles and are committed to working together with NFPA and State Farm to make our community safer from the threat of wildfire. We believe Preparedness Day is a great way to raise awareness of this important issue. ”
Information Day activities will include:
• Goody bags for adults and kids (while supplies last)
• Visit with Smokey the Bear and see Firefighting Trucks and Equipment
• Sign-up for a Free Firewise Home Inspection
Projects undertaken on Preparedness Day can range from a short time commitment up to an entire day and can be undertaken by individuals or groups. Some actions residents can take to reduce the risk of home and property becoming fuel for a wildfire include:
• Rake and remove pine needles and dry leaves within a minimum of 3 to 5 feet of a home’s foundation. As time permits – continue up to a 30-foot distance around the home. Dispose of collected debris in appropriate trash receptacles.
• Collect downed tree limbs and broken branches and take them to a disposal site.
• Distribute wildfire safety information, like the free Firewise Toolkit, to neighbors or staff a table at a grocery or hardware store (other high-traffic locations work, too) and distribute free Firewise and emergency preparedness materials that can be ordered from the Firewise catalog or from READY.gov.
• Join forces with neighbors and pool your resources to pay for a chipper service to remove slash.
• Help an elderly relative or neighbor enter emergency numbers and the names of close relatives into their cell phones; and in large font post their phone number and street address above their landline so it can easily be seen when providing information to an emergency dispatcher.
You can find additional project ideas and learn more about the national Wildfire Community Preparedness Day event on May 6 by visiting www.wildfireprepday.org.
County Announces Storm Cleanup Plan
News September 27, 2017
Public Safety Director David Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ga. – White County is implementing an Emergency Debris Management Plan to help county residents clean up after the storm that swept through the county.
Residents who live in the unincorporated area of the county who have vegetative debris on their property that needs to be disposed of, can help the cleanup process by moving all the debris (trees, stumps, limbs and leaves only) to the county road right-of-way for pickup.
Deadline for the public to place debris on the right-of-way is Thursday, Oct. 19 in order for it to be picked up by the contractor assigned by the county. Debris will only be removed from county right-of-ways.
A press release issued by the White County Emergency Management Agency asks that residents keep all debris away from fire hydrants, valves and public utilities. Please report illegal dumping and illegal dump sites to White County Code Enforcement at 706-865-6496.
For more information regarding storm debris cleanup efforts, contact the White County Emergency Management Agency at 706-865-9500.
Feeding, Shower Facility Open Today at WCMS
News September 17, 2017
David Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ga. – White County Public Safety Director David Murphy announced that the White County Middle School, 283 Old Blairsville Road, will be open again today as a feeding and shower facility from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.
It will reopen from 4 p.m. until 7 p.m. Anyone without power and are in need of these services is welcome. Please bring your essential hygiene products, towels, and change of clothing. Bottled water and ICE will be distributed at the site during those hours as well.
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at FetchYourNews.com
Public Safety Director Murphy Calls Emergency Meeting as City, County Officials Brace for Irma
News September 8, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ga. – White County Department of Public Safety Director David Murphy called city and county officials to a meeting at county’s Emergency Operations Center Friday morning, to check on their preparedness for the impact of Hurricane Irma.
All law enforcement agencies in the county and all fire departments were represented along with a handful of emergency management personnel, members of the Certified Emergency Response Team (C.E.R.T.), city and county managers and some county commissioners.
Irma is expected to make landfall near the Florida Keys late Saturday and Florida Gov. Rick Scott said the storm is “way bigger than Andrew.” Hurricane Irma has been downgraded to a category 4 but maximum winds are about 150 miles per hour.
After landfall, Irma is expected to produce a destructive path as it rumbles northward through central Florida as it bears down on Georgia. Most hurricanes weaken as they pass over land and Irma is expected to be downgraded to a tropical storm by the time it reaches northeast Georgia.
“A reasonable arrival time when we will experience tropical storm winds is Monday morning around 8 a.m. and throughout the day and into Tuesday night,” Murphy said. Sustained winds are expected to be about 30 miles per hour with gusts up to 50 mph.
“Projected rainfall is between 2.8 and 3.5 inches. We have had that much rainfall before, but add that to the high winds and we could have a problem,” Murphy added.
All of those charged with the responsibility of protecting the citizens reported that their agencies are as ready as they can be.
Friendship Baptist Church, 3513 Westmoreland Road in Cleveland, Mount Yonah Elementary School, 1161 Duncan Bridge Road and the Mauney Building 1241 Helen Highway, have been designated as safe haven/comfort shelters for those who live in sub-standard housing, mobile homes or RV’s and feel threatened due to weather conditions.
Murphy said three conditions could trigger the opening of those shelters: damaging winds with tornado activity; the storm center issues a tornado watch and conditions on the ground along with multiple calls from the public about where to go. They have already been supplied with cots, blankets and water.
The Bridge Church, 607 Hulsey Road in Cleveland, will serve as the Red Cross congregate center and will be opened to the public if the area is hit by a tornado or the Red Cross requests it to open as an evacuation center.
The flight of Floridians to escape Irma has already reached White County. As of Friday morning two vendors have run out of gas.
Generators have been prepositioned at the county courthouse to ensure that the lines of communication remain open.
The county public works director said his department has adequate fuel supply and 10-12 people assigned to a chain saw strike team to help clear roads of fallen trees.
Sheriff Neal Walden said that as of noon today, all leave is canceled. One of his major concerns is if the county jail is damaged by high winds, he may need a bus on short notice to transport prisoners.
Asked if he had a message for those tempted to get out and survey the damage after the storm passes through, Walden said, “We will absolutely not allow gawkers. Stay at home.” He also cautioned residents to be alert for scammers who like to take advantage of disasters.
County Commission Chairman Travis Turner urged everyone to, “Be ready to assist one another and our neighbors. Let’s work together. We want to come out of this with a win.”
Public Safety Director Presents His Department’s Annual Report
Business April 27, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ga. – The White County Board of Commissioners held a two-and-a-half hour work session and called meeting Monday. Public Safety Director David Murphy presented his office’s 2016 annual report during the work session.
The Department of Public Safety oversees Animal Control, Emergency Management Agency, E911 Communications and Fire Services.
Significant accomplishments in the Animal Control agency include receiving $5,000 in grant funds for various projects such as adoption and the spay and neuter program. Murphy said the euthanasia rate has continued to decline.
EMA responded to163 events in 2016, more than twice the amount in the previous year. EMA employees also conducted 15 training events and completed 214 training hours. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) completed 378 training hours.
EMA is the coordinating agency for all Federal Emergency Management Agency and Homeland Security Grants for Public Safety. Pre-Disaster and Disaster mitigation funds are funneled through the division. The amount of federal support the county received declined from $77,408 in 2015 to $47,615 in 2016.
The 911 Central Communications Division operates 24/7 and is manned by four communications officers per shift. The call volume handled by the 911 staff increased from 111,226 calls in 2015 to 114,105 in 2016.
The Fire Services Division is manned by 12 career firefighters, 2 part-time employees, and 46 volunteer firefighters who cover 242 square miles. Response time averaged 10 minutes. Fire department personnel received 3,748 hours of training in 2016, including 2,745 hours of formal training and 2,976 hours of fire oriented training. The department has seven fire stations with one proposed station on Maudlin Road and another in the Duncan Bridge Road area of Panorama Drive.
During Monday night’s called meeting, the White County Board of Commissioners unanimously approved the following applications for rezoning:
- Sue Russell’s request to rezone 1.34 acres at 1204 and 1206 Ridge Road in Helen from C1 Community Commercial District to C2 Highway Business District;
- Larry Freeman’s request to rezone 1.44 acres at 9669 Duncan Bridge Road in Cleveland from R1 Residential Single Family District to C2 Highway Business District;
- Elaine F. Reynold’s request to rezone 13 acres at 1679 Helen Highway in Cleveland from R1 Residential Single Family District to C2 Highway Business District;
- Kelly and Gary Mills request to rezone 5 acres at 457 Highway 255 South in Cleveland from R1 Residential Single Family to A1 Agriculture Forestry District.
Commissioners also approved the Alliant Renewal Option for the county employees benefits program which reflects a 12.46 percent increase totaling $193,098 for Fiscal Year 2017-’18.
Yonah Mountain Campground Fire Destroys RV
News November 8, 2017
Public Safety Director David Murphy
CLEVELAND, Ga. – The White County Fire Department, with automatic aid from the City of Cleveland, responded to an RV camper that caught fire Monday at Yonah Mountain Campground off Helen Highway.
White County Public Safety Director David Murphy said upon arrival of the first fire units, the RV camper was fully involved and fire had extended to a neighboring shed where it had broken a window and sustained charring from the heat. Another camper close to the shed suffered some heat damage where the occupants had been home at the time.
The State Fire Investigator was called to the scene to determine the cause of the fire. It is currently under investigation. No injuries were reported.
Fire Destroys Home on Pine Brook Trail
News April 13, 2017CLEVELAND, Ga. – A fire at 38 Pine Brook Trail in White County completely destroyed a mobile home early Thursday morning but the occupants escaped unharmed.
White County Public Safety Director David Murphy said in an email that White County Fire Services from Stations 2 and 3 responded to a 911 call at approximately 2:40 a.m. along with mutual aid from the City of Cleveland and Lee Arrendale Fire Brigade.
When the first unit arrived firefighters reported flames showing on the southeast corner of the residence. Firefighters quickly knocked down the fire, but the residence will be deemed a total loss.
The fire is currently under investigation.
White Co. Firefighters Rescue Lost Hiker
News March 17, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ga. — White County Public Safety Director David Murphy reported that rescuers from White County Fire, the Department of Natural Resources , White County EMS and Lumpkin County Fire worked for more than four hours to locate a lost hiker on the Tesnatee Gap trailhead near Cow Rock Mountain.
They hiked in about 35 minutes on a snow and ice covered trail before locating the unidentified hiker who, Murphy said, is an avid hiker from Rhode Island. She was not injured, but with the trail covered by snow, the hiker lost her way.
Murphy added the hiker was very glad to see rescuers as the temperature was 24 degrees with wind blowing at 12-15 miles per hour and the sun was going down.
All personnel escorted her down the trail.
White County Aids Towns Co. in Mountain Rescue
News March 17, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ga. — One day after rescuing a lost hiker from a snow covered trail in the Cow Rock Mountain area White County firefighters were searching for an injured person on the Appalachian Trail near Unicoi Gap in Towns County.
White County Public Safety Director David Murphy said temperatures were in the teens when the White County rescuers met up with Towns County Fire/EMS at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday.
The City of Helen Fire Department was called in to provide an ATV because the Towns County ATV had mechanical problems.
Once the patient was located, it was determined the injuries were non-life threatening and he was transported by ATV to a waiting Towns County med unit.
White County firefighters terminated the call just after midnight. The patient had non-life threatening injuries; the call lasted 5 hours from the time of initial response to termination of the call.
No Injuries Reported in Residential Fire Wednesday
News September 7, 2017
David Murphy
CLEVELAND – Units from the White County and Cleveland Fire Departments responded to a residential fire Wednesday evening at 85 Ellis Drive in Cleveland.
White County Public Safety Director David Murphy reported that a dryer at the home caught fire and when the residents’ attempt to extinguish the blaze with a chemical extinguisher was unsuccessful they called 9-1-1.
Fire personnel quickly extinguished the fire then placed a smoke ejector in the residence to eradicate the home of smoke. All other fire units were canceled and damage was contained to the dryer unit only.
The occupants did have working smoke alarms and they did activate.
Fortunately here were no injuries reported.
Firefighters Rescue Hiker Who Fell From Top of Raven Cliff Waterfall
News April 20, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ga – An unidentified hiker was injured Wednesday when he fell from the top of the waterfall area of Raven Cliff at about 3 p.m.
White County Public Safety Director David Murphy said in an email that the hiker had gone to the top of the falls where he slipped and fell onto the last ledge before the main drop of the falls (approximately 55 foot vertical drop). White said firefighters from White County’s Stations 2 and 3 with mutual aid from the City of Helen Fire Department and Lee Arrendale Fire Brigade responded to the call and removed the hiker from the falls to an area where Georgia State Patrol aviation using a Bell 429 helicopter with a hoist extracted the hiker and transported him to White County Med 2 where he was further evaluated and then transported to Northeast Georgia Medical Center for treatment.
White said the injuries are believed to be non-life threatening.
New State Grant Will Help Low-Income Families Care for Their Pets
News June 27, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ga. – White County has received a grant from the Georgia Department of Agriculture that will be used to assist low-income families with the costs associated with spay/neuter surgery for their pets, White County Public Safety Director David Murphy announced Tuesday.
“We are pleased to be the recipients of this grant and to be able to assist families in our community,” Murphy said.
Murphy also announced a new adoption fee schedule for Animal Control Services that will go into effect July 1. Pets already altered when they enter the shelter will be $25. Unaltered pets will remain at $90 and families eligible for the spay/neuter grant can adopt an unaltered pet for $45 through the end of July.
Applications for both the spay/neuter grant and adoptions can be obtained at White County Animal Control, 680 Industrial Blvd., Cleveland, Ga. For more information, call 706-219-2689 or check the county website at www.whitecounty.net
Fetch Your News is a hyper local news outlet that covers Dawson, Lumpkin, White, Fannin, Gilmer, Pickens, Union, Towns and Murray counties as well as Cherokee County in N.C. If you would like to follow up-to-date local events in any of those counties, please visit us at www.fetchyournews.com
Man Killed When Home on Rhododendron Lane Explodes
News February 3, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ga. — A White County man was killed and several homes suffered damage when a home exploded at 64 Rhododendron Lane in Mt. Yonah Scenic Estates around 10:48 a.m. Friday.
White County Sheriff Neal Walden said this afternoon that the home was completely destroyed along with several surrounding structures and while examining the scene and debris, the man’s body was located. Officials had not released the man’s identification late Friday pending an autopsy by the state crime lab.
Walden added that units from the White County Fire Department, Helen Fire Department, White County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia Forestry Service responded and that investigators are attempting do determine the cause.
The Forestry Services worked to ensure the explosion didn’t ignite fires to the surrounding forest.
Public Safety Director Murphy told reporters Friday afternoon that “ It appears a propane leak inside the residence caused the explosion.”
Fire Department Responds to Chimney Fire in White County
News January 27, 2017
CLEVELAND, GA. — White County firefighters from Stations 4 and 5 and Cleveland Fire Department responded to a fire at 95 Mason Drive Thursday at about 8 p.m.
Upon arrival, they discovered flames coming from the top of the chimney. The family had self-evacuated prior to firefighters arrival.
According to an email from White County Public Safety Director David Murphy, firefighters attempted to extinguished the chimney fire by dry chemical extinguisher and then water. Occupants were able to remain in the home once the fire department deployed PPV (positive pressure ventilation).
Firefighters were on scene for about two hours and no injuries were reported.
The family did not require assistance by the Red Cross.
White County Firefighters Kept Busy Monday
News January 23, 2017
CLEVELAND, Ga. — White County firefighters were kept busy Monday. After they responded to an early morning blaze at Piney Mountain Ammunition Company they were called to a residential fire at 412 Briarwood Drive in Cleveland in the afternoon.
White County Public Safety Director David Murphy said fire units from White County, the City of Cleveland and Lee Arrendale fire brigade arrived to find smoke inside the residence, which originated from an electric stove. They shut off the power to the residence, cleared the smoke and contacted the landlord.
One male subject on scene had to be checked by EMS, but did nor require transport to a hospital.