(Lawrenceville, Ga., May 23, 2018) – The Gwinnett County Department of Fire and Emergency Services will hold a promotional ceremony to honor and recognize 41 department members who are advancing to key leadership positions within the organization. A prestigious badge pinning ceremony will be held today, Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at 5:30 p.m. in the Auditorium at the Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center in Lawrenceville.

The new promotions include 19-Driver Engineers, 12-Lieutenants, 6-Captains, 2-Battalion Chiefs, 1-Assistant Chief/Operations Division and 1-Fire Chief/Department Director. “This is an exciting and historical time for the fire and emergency services department,” said Gwinnett Fire Captain Tommy Rutledge. We are blessed and fortunate to have the support from our residents, county staff and elected officials, which helps to make promotions like these possible. The department continues to provide excellent fire, emergency medical and community risk reduction services to a diverse and growing population. In 2017, the department responded to over 79,000 emergency incidents from 31-strategically placed fire stations throughout the county. The department currently has an authorized strength of 952 highly trained and highly skilled personnel. Chief Russell Knick, the departments newly appointed Fire Chief/Department Director will address the group along with County leaders and elected officials.

The ceremony will conclude with a badge pinning ritual and photo-op as family members stepped forwarded to pin the badge on the uniform shirt of their loved-one. Below is a list all the personnel being promoted. Some have already been in the position for a period of time and are being recognized during today’s ceremony.

DRIVER ENGINEERS
Matt Bays Anthony Bennett
Jeremy Bennett Zach Brooks
Grant Carter Alex Crowe
Ashley Fields Casey Fields
Daniel Fisher Caleb Jordan
Brant Keiser Dip Patel
Titus Pugh Charlie Rolader
Dustin Scoggins Adam Smith
Daniel Todd Tim Waters
Jeremy Williams

LIEUTENANTS
Bobby Atcheson Cody Baker
Andy Bellone Tye Cown
T.J. Crowe Blake Hall
Aaron Klinect Josh LeBlanc
Jason Mull Jonathan Myers
Chase Parker Jordan Weldon

CAPTAINS
Chris Bilik Matt Bowen
Darren Cimarossa Dan Echols
Trey Johnson Jason Smith

BATTALION CHIEFS
David Jugenheimer
Jekerry Weaver

ASSISTANT CHIEF
Frederick Cephas

FIRE CHIEF/DEPARTMENT DIRECTOR
Russell Knick