At the Dec. 2 board meeting of Explorers Post 2305, nearly every agenda item was placed on hold.
The career-based program teaches, trains and certifies members ages 14-20 to become firefighters – an important role in keeping up with the need for first responders, said Catoosa County Fire Chief Randy Camp.
But with the Catoosa County Fire Department absorbing the Fort Oglethorpe Fire Department, which hosts the program, effective Jan. 1, the fate of the post is unknown. At that December board meeting, they operated under the assumption that the post would close at the end of December.
Camp said he would like to continue the program county-wide, but because of the change in sponsorship from city to county, a lapse may occur as they work out a new structure for the group. Since the county cannot assume ownership of Fort Oglethorpe’s department until 2020, the county cannot take over the post yet, he explained in an interview on Dec. 3.
“The program is important to the future of firefighters,” said Camp.