LT. Bob Howard

Sgt. Troy Cosby

Hiram, Georgia – May 5, 2016 – Today PCFD announced that two officers were promoted and assigned to the Department’s Training Division.
Newly promoted Lieutenant, Bob Howard, joined PCFD after a long and distinguished career with Atlanta Fire & Rescue, where he served for nearly 27 years. At the time of his retirement, Lt. Howard headed the City of Atlanta’s Training Division at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport. He joined PCFD in 2014 where his skills, experience, and outside perspective are invaluable.

Sergeant Troy Cosby, a Paulding County native and son of a Hiram firefighter, started his service in 1983 as a volunteer with the Hiram Fire Department. In 1996, he was one of 8 career firefighters hired that year – which, at the time, doubled the Department’s staff to 16 full-time firefighters. Sgt. Cosby has been a company officer in the Operations Division since 2006 and now takes over as Training Division Sergeant.

According to Chief Joey Pelfrey, “Sustained economic and population growth is causing 911 call volume to rapidly increase. To keep up, we are constantly hiring new personnel who go through a rigorous state-certified 18-week recruit school. Plus, our long-time Firefighters are required to recertify annually as well as learning the newest and advanced techniques. Getting them trained is crucial to our Department’s overall success. We are fortunate to have Bob and Troy accepting these new roles in the Training Division. Combined, they bring over 60 years of firefighting experience. They will mentor and teach both new and veteran Firefighters alike to meet the needs of our community.”

ABOUT PAULDING COUNTY FIRE & RESCUE:
Founded in 1980, the department provides fire protection, suppression, rescue, and emergency services and employs 150 paid professional personnel. In 2014 the department responded to 13,201 calls through the 911 system for fire and emergency medical service. Paulding County is 313 square miles in size with a population of ~150,000 and is situated approximately 30 miles Northwest of Atlanta. Further information is available at: www.paulding.gov