Cobb County has a pair of dedicated Heavy Rescue Squads. Squad 7, currently assigned to Station 7 off Hurt Road, services the South-end portion of Cobb County. Squad 16, which is assigned to Station 16 in Kennesaw, serves the North-end of Cobb County. Both Squads are assigned with at least four Technical Rescue Technicians on any given shift, with a Lieutenant serving as the Officer in Charge on Squad 7 and a Captain as the OIC on Squad 16.
Squad technicians are certified in Rope Technician, Confined Space, Building Collapse, Trench Rescue, Swift Water and Helicopter Rescues. Either Squad 4 or Squad 16 responds to every working structure fire in Cobb County. All squad members receive an additional annual pay incentive equal to 10% of their salary. For someone starting out, this amounts to $7,200.
The Public Safety Command Unit, which goes by the call sign 900, is assigned to Station 8 and is staffed 365 days a year by a certified firefighter. The Command Unit is dispatched to all working Commercial Building fires, active shooter events, Hazardous Materials events, and any other event an Incident Commander may deem appropriate.
The Cobb County MedOps is a highly-specialized team composed of paramedics and EMTs who, when called upon by various law enforcement agencies in Cobb County, serve as the tactical medics for hostile events. MedOps serves with the Sheriff’s office, Squad, MCS and more responding agencies and is dispatched to various active shooter events. Paramedic members of the MedOps team receive a 10% pay incentive, while EMT members receive 5%.
Cobb County has a Tier 1 Hazmat Response Team. There are a total of 60 hazmat team members over the two stations with a minimum of 12 on duty hazmat techs 24/7. The response leg of the team is located centrally in the county at Cobb County Station 17. At this station there is a dedicated HazMat Squad capable of handling level 1 hazmat incidents independently. Along with this, they are also capable of advanced extrication and are also utilized as a staffing unit to increase our effective firefighting force throughout the county. This unit is staffed with 6 members. Also located at Station 17 is an Engine staffed with 4 Hazmat techs that will supplement a hazmat response or handle an additional response as needed. The Engine crew has access to the Hazmat 17 tractor trailer for this mission.
The Decon leg of hazmat is located at Cobb County Station 8. At Station 8 is our Mass Decon Tractor Trailer and a Dry Decon Rescue Vehicle. This station is staffed with 10 Hazmat Techs who would be automatically dispatched to a level 2 hazmat incident, or as requested by the response side of hazmat. Members of our hazmat team receive a 10% pay incentive.
Cobb County is home to a pair of Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) trucks, which are assigned to Kennesaw’s McCollum Airport. Members of Hazmat 8 are assigned to the apparatus daily to ensure a quick response in the case of an aircraft emergency. The ARFF trucks have unique radio call signs, being named Tomahawk 1 and Tomahawk 2.
Cobb County ’s first fire investigation unit was formed in conjunction with building inspections under the newly formed Fire Marshal’s Office in 1968. Today, the fire investigation unit consists of (5) full time investigators. The unit investigates on average between 200-250 fires annually.
All investigators are certified fire investigators, firefighters, and peace officers. Investigators are on call 24-hours a day 365 days a year to respond outside of their normal office hours. Cobb Fire Investigators are responsible for investigating all suspicious and non-suspicious fires where a cause cannot readily be determined by on scene personnel. This responsibility also includes fires resulting in injury and/or death.
We also work closely with the Fire Marshal’s Office, Public Fire & Life Safety Education Division and the Juvenile Fire Setter’s Program to identify and eliminate potential life safety hazards. We are active members of the Metro Arson Task Force (ATF), Metro Fire Investigators Association and the Georgia Fire Investigators Association.
