The Brentwood and Franklin Fire Departments were recognized on Tuesday night for outstanding achievement in the area of Public Safety by the Greater Nashville Regional Council (GNRC). Deputy Chief Mike Culberson accepted the award on behalf of the Franklin Fire Department while Chief Kenny Lane and Assistant Chief Brian Goss accepted on behalf of Brentwood.

The award was presented for demonstrating exceptional interagency cooperation through the development of an automatic aid response agreement that improves the safety of residents in both cities. Under the automatic aid agreement, which went into effect July 1, both Brentwood and Franklin units respond to structure fires in the automatic aid coverage area which includes southern Brentwood and northern Franklin. This is achieved through a simultaneous dispatch procedure which was developed during the planning process.

According to Goss, this agreement enhances fire protection for both communities without increased cost and can also lend itself to improved ISO ratings. This new initiative satisfies cooperative recommendations by FEMA and the Department of Homeland Security and provides a higher concentration of resources to an incident more quickly. As Franklin Fire Chief Rocky Garzarek said, “It’s just the right thing to do”.

The Greater Nashville Regional Council (GNRC) is the regional planning and economic development organization comprised of the 13 counties and 53 cities of the greater Nashville region of northern Middle Tennessee. The GNRC is made up of the mayors of each city, the mayors of each county, two members of the State Legislature, and a minority member along with an industrial representative from each county. The awards dinner is held annually. 

(L to R):  Deputy Chief Mike Culberson (Franklin), Chief Kenny Lane (Brentwood), Asst. Chief Brian Goss (Brentwood)