Griffin-Fire Rescue (GF-R) went into overdrive in 2008 when it came to training.

Based on a report issued by Capt. Darrell Spradley for the GFR 2008 Annual Report, the department’s call load was down by 10 percent but up more than 10 percent in training.

Total training time counted for 13,690 hours, which averaged 217 training hours per firefighter.

Included in those hours were the training of two personnel as National Incident Management System (NIMS) trainers; a 330-hour basic training session for Central Georgia Search and Rescue Task Force IV (GSAR); and the training of over half the department in technical rope rescue techniques.

“Griffin is most certainly the only fire department in Georgia (perhaps the entire U.S.) that can claim that over half of their personnel are fully trained in technical rope rescue,” Spradley said.

GF-R also reported that the department handled 1,146 incidents in 2008. Of those, 437 were rescues and 178 were fires.

As in previous years, Station One on Hill Street covered the largest number of calls and more calls occurred in January than any other month.

Also, based on GF-R estimates, actual fire losses for 2008 was $1,387,500, but the potential for fire losses was $14,950,134 and there were no fire fatalities to be reported.

GF-R was also very visible in the community, having participated in the Martin Luther King Jr. parade; Fourth of July activities; the Christmas Parade; the Citizens Government Academy; Career Day at the Griffin-Spalding County School System middle schools; the Spalding County Fair; Fire Prevention Week; raised more than $4,000 in the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA) Boot Drive; and raised $1,000 in the Give Burns the Boot drive. The Fire Safety Pavilion was also completed at the Kiwanis Fairgrounds.