Georgia Smoke Diver History

Since 1978, the Georgia Smoke Diver Program has been a proud tradition in the State of Georgia.  The first class was held in December of that year.  The class was based on training originating in the European fire service.  Cortez Lawrence (Smoke Diver #1) was the father of the Georgia Smoke Diver program.  He combined this European fire service training along with ideas from the Florida Smoke Diver Program and similar programs from other states.  The first Georgia Smoke Diver Class graduated eight students.  They were deemed “the elite few, strong in mind and body”.  Along with this came the renowned “black T-shirt”. 

In the years that followed, a new class was held every six months.  By 1987, the course had graduated 345 of the “elite few”.  The year of 1987 proved to be very momentous.  An invitation was received from the State of Washington to pilot a course at Snoqualmis.  Georgia Fire Academy Program Specialist Jeff Yoder, led a contingent of five instructors to conduct the program.  By the scheduled time of departure, the number of instructors had risen to thirteen.  Brothers Scott Millsap, Joel Yoder, Jeff Yoder, Mike Lee, Jim “Dad” Martin, Joey Lane, Barry “Boz” Stevens, Bruce Davis, Willie Williams, David Rhodes, Mike Kinsey - “Trooper Rose”, Mike Russell, and Danny Dixon.  Most of these instructors paid their own way.  The program was a success.  Fifteen Washington State Firefighters became Smoke Divers the first, Craig Anderson, of Oak Harbor Fire Department became Washington State Smoke Diver #1. 

The latter part of 1987 brought more changing times.  The Georgia Fire Academy moved from Marietta’s Southern Tech Campus, to the Georgia Public Safety Training Center in Forsyth. Brother Jeff Yoder, Smoke Diver Program Specialist at the GFA, implemented the Incident Command System, mandatory hook-up rules, mandatory hydration and the integration of NFPA standards into live fire operations which took the course to a new level of safety.  This was the first GFA class to use the ICS system.  These changes reduced injuries and served the course well.

Shortly after the move to Forsyth, the Georgia Fire Academy refused to “certify” graduates.  In order to continue with the tradition of Certified Smoke Divers and each person having a number, the Georgia Smoke Diver Association began to print the certificates and issue the numbers.

Once in Forsyth, the program faced tough scrutiny due to the attrition rates. Some years only saw one Smoke Diver class.  Finally, after the fall class of 1995, the inevitable happened.  The Georgia Fire Academy dropped the Smoke Diver Program completely.  After the fall class of 1995, the number of Georgia Smoke Divers totaled 635.

From 1996 until 2005 there were several attempts to bring back the Smoke Diver Program.  Although we were very close a couple times, it never came to fruition.  Scott Millsap, Smoke Diver #25 and long time Smoke Daddy was instrumental in trying to revive the program.  He explored ways to protect the integrity of the course.  Scott started the process to copyright the Smoke Diver name and Logo. 

In the summer of 1998 the Georgia Fire Academy began a major house cleaning and began to dispose of unused items from the bottom of the tower. GFA program specialist David Herndon feared that the Smoke Diver program outlines, objectives, and all written documentation was going to be lost for ever.  In true Smoke Diver fashion, he found a way around the GFA administrative order to “throw it away”.  He made a phone call to Brother David Rhodes and advised him of the situation.  Herndon named the time and a place at the Georgia Public Safety Training Center of when Rhodes could come and get the storage boxes of sacred and historic information.  With that, Rhodes was off to the GPSTC on a covert mission to remove these treasured scrolls.  The boxes were right were Herndon said they would be, behind the fire station up against the wall.  Rhodes secured them and smuggled them out of the GPSTC and kept them at his house.

In early 1999, Scott Millsap, David Rhodes, Joel Yoder, and Mike Lee met at the O’Charley’s in Conyers, Georgia where the decision was made to update the outlines, objectives, and student manual and to begin preparation to put on the Smoke Divers Course independent of the Georgia Fire Academy.  Work continued on the course material over the next couple of years.  There were meetings in Conyers, Lawrenceville, and Dalton.  Brent Hullender, Smoke Diver #593, who was working with Scott at ESE Training Associates, began coordinating the revamp of the course material.

On September 23, 2002 Scott Millsap lost a ten year battle with cancer.  He left the Smoke Diver program to Brent Hullender to finish and carry on.  While Brent had worked closely with Scott in trying to restore the program, he felt there should be a group of old Smoke Divers involved as well.  In 2003 the Georgia Smoke Diver Association was revived and seven members were named to the Board of Elders.  The members were:  Don Sapp, Wayne Johnson, Joel Yoder, Mike Lee, Lee Stewart, David Rhodes, & Brent Hullender.  Throughout the next year there was a lot of work done to re-write old course outlines and to prepare for the next class. During that time Hullender and Rhodes came close to a deal with Griffin Tech to host the program at the Spalding County Fire Department, but scheduling conflicts prevented carrying out the program.  Then in 2004 they began to work with Deputy Chief Bruce Satterfield, Smoke Diver #95, on the possibility of hosting the program at the City of Dalton Fire Department Training Center.  

David Wall was named the Director of the Georgia Fire Academy in December of 2004. Director Wall began an effort to re-engage many of the adjunct instructors to help redefine and restructure the Georgia Fire Academy. GPSTC Director Dale Mann also challenged all GPSTC Training Directors to offer “high speed” advanced classes that challenged the students. Director Wall with the support of Dale Mann began communicating with David Rhodes about bringing Smoke Divers back to the Georgia Fire Academy. 

In order to continue the work of Scott Millsap and to protect the integrity of the program, Brent Hullender secured the copyright on the Ga. Smoke Diver name and logo on December 21, 2004.  This in conjunction with the dialog between the Georgia Fire Academy and the Smoke Divers Association gave the program some new momentum.

On April 14, 2005, in a hotel room in downtown Indianapolis, Brothers Brent Hullender, David Rhodes, Merv McDonald, and Doug Stephenson met with David Wall and Donny Roberts (Smoke Diver #185), from the Georgia Fire Academy.  The Smoke Divers presented the first draft of new master course file including schedules, outlines, a new mission statement and a proposed partnership between the Smoke Diver Association and the Georgia Fire Academy. The meeting was very positive and went better than anyone could have ever dreamed. The very next day, Director Wall set a date for the fall class.  An agreement was worked out with the Georgia Fire Academy for the Georgia Smoke Diver Association to bring back the Georgia Smoke Diver Program.  The date was set for October 30, 2005. 

Throughout the next few months work continued on the program.  On July 7, 2005 the website, georgiasmokediver.com was updated and the Georgia Smoke Diver Association started accepting applications for the fall class.  An email was sent to 20 Smoke Divers to spread the word and as a result 126 applications for the fall class were received in just 3 weeks.

On July 15, 2005 there was an open meeting held for all Smoke Divers to discuss the up coming class.  There were old and new Smoke Divers from the north end and the south end of the state.  Brother Bob Sanborn, Smoke Diver #318 traveled all the way from Bowling Green Kentucky to attend the meeting. 

There was an Instructor Development held September 7-9, 2005.  More than 30 Smoke Divers attended this development to prepare for the upcoming Smoke Diver class.  During this development in a private ceremony, in an undisclosed location, Daryl Purvine, Smoke Diver #334, was named to the Board of Elders.

Class #33 was held October 30 – November 4, 2005.  The class graduated 15 new Smoke Divers.  This brought the total number of the elite few to 650.  The Ga. Smoke Diver Program had a major overhaul during the ten year break.  However, the program remained true to its roots and the core of the program is the same as it was when it all began in 1978.   The program operates under the NIMS format.  This allows the program to be efficient, safe, organized, and the most professional course you will find anywhere. 

One of the greatest parts of becoming a Smoke Diver is coming back to help with the program and becoming an Instructor.  Smoke Divers coming back to help is essential to the program's success.  On any given day of the class we need a minimum of 40 Smoke Divers to deliver the course.  More than 50 Smoke Divers stepped up to the plate and paid their own way to make class #33 a success.  The class was facilitated by the 8 Elders and five lead instructors.

In May of 2006, Georgia Smoke Diver Class #34 was held.  This class graduated nine who were added to the ranks of the elite few.  Early in the morning on Wednesday, May 24th, in another secret ceremony at an undisclosed location, Brother Phil Chovan, Smoke Diver #64 was named to the Board of Elders.

On June 12, 2006, the Georgia Fire Academy approved the GSDA proposal to hold a candidate qualification test prior to the class to allow all interested firefighters to compete for the available positions in the class.  The first Georgia Smoke Diver Qualification Test took place on August 19, 2006.  105 potential candidates competed in the testing for 28 available spot.  The test was obviously taken much too lightly; only 19 of the 105 firefighters who participated in the test passed.  This resulted in a very small group of Candidates for class number 35.  Georgia Smoke Diver Class number 35 was held October 1-6, 2006.  The class graduated 7 new Smoke Divers (this number included 2 out-of-state firefighters who passed the course).

Georgia Smoke Diver Class number 36 was held March 4-9, 2007.  The class graduated 18 new Smoke Divers. In September of 2007 Brothers Jack Sorrels (SD #453) and Joe Sanchez (SD #336) went on a mission trip to the Tennessee State Fire Academy to share ideas and recon the Tennessee Smoke Diver School. A tremendous networking plan began and two members of the Tennessee program spent 2 days with us observing Class number 37. Because of their work in the mission field Brothers Sorrels and Sanchez were proclaimed “Ambassadors” and are forever known as Ambassador Sorrels and Sanchez.

To be continued…