There’s a highly trained and skilled group of Macon-Bibb firefighters who have spent countless hours learning and practicing to perfect search and rescue operations in any scenario which may come their way. Last week, they were met with a new challenge and tackled it headfirst: they helped Mayor Lester Miller and others rappel off our brand-new fire training tower! The stakes weren’t as high as an emergency rescue, but we still wanted to highlight what they do in this week’s Staff Spotlight.

Corporal Cameron Wilder, Sergeant Kip Goss, Private Brandon Pate, Acting Sergeant Brandon Teague, and Corporal Acting Sergeant William DeWitt are just a few of the members of our GSAR team. That stands for Georgia Search and Rescue. They are responsible for what they describe as low-frequency, but high-risk situations. This includes HAZMAT (hazardous materials), water rescues, confined spaces like wells, response following a hurricane or tornado, and more. Much of their time is spent training and teaching others what they’ve learned. 

“These specialized rope rescue members of the GSAR team have put in numerous training hours and have gone above and beyond to perfect their skills in technical rope rescue,” says Fire Chief Shane Edwards. “We are truly grateful and thankful for their outstanding skills they’ve perfected in making sure all our firefighters are safe when they have to do high-angle and low-angle rope rescues.”

We spoke to four of the five men pictured above, and here’s a little information about each of them (L-R):

Corporal Cameron Wilder: He’s a relief driver on an engine company and is also a new dad. Wilder’s son is five months old. Wilder says his son is the reason he works during the day – and doesn’t sleep at night! But says it’s absolutely worth it. 

Sergeant Kip Goss: Since he wasn’t available to interview with the rest of the team, we asked Acting Sergeant DeWitt to give us a word about Goss. “I enjoy working with Sergeant Goss because he’s bright and knowledgeable, as well as meticulous – which is an important quality in this line of work.”

Private Brandon Pate: He’s been with the department for three months and is a firefighter on Engine 10. He enjoys spending his free time traveling with his wife. His team also says he’s got the best hair in the entire department. 

Acting Sergeant Brandon Teague: He’s an engineer for Ladder 10 and in his free time he says, “I do a lot of offshore fishing. I’m not any good at it, but I enjoy it!”

Corporal Acting Sergeant Williams DeWitt: He’s assigned to Ladder 10 and has three daughters, two of whom are twins. DeWitt says those little girls are the reason he works to hard to help others and his community.  

“We like to use the motto ‘in omnia paratus’ which is latin for ‘prepared in all things,’” says DeWitt. “We want our citizens to know they’re well taken care of whether it’s a fire emergency of some other kind of emergency. We’re among the best in the state.” 

We certainly feel safer knowing these guys are part of our Class 1 Fire Department. Thank you for being part of #teammaconbibb!