DeKalb County honors volunteer firefighters at 2025 annual awards banquet

The DeKalb County Volunteer Fire Department on its 2025 annual awards banquet honored volunteer firefighters, stations and long-serving members while thanking community sponsors for supporting recruitment and training. The event, headlined by Wilson Bank and Trust, included recognition of training milestones and several named awards.

An emcee opened the evening by thanking volunteers, families and sponsors and by summarizing department activity for the prior year: “Last year, DeKalb County Fire Department responded to 411 calls,” the emcee said, and reported a total of 8,391.15 volunteer hours logged, which the presenter said equated to about 349 days of combined service. The night’s program included a video produced by communications outreach officer Alyssa Harvey; the emcee said the video will be posted to the department’s Facebook page.

Major honors included the 2025 Station of the Year award to Liberty Station 65, cited for community outreach, free smoke-detector installations, youth engagement and holiday charity work. The department’s officers selected Calvin Trammell of Station 57 as Station Commander of the Year for leadership, timely reporting and high training attendance, and DTC Communications named Alvin Gunkel (Liberty Station) Rookie of the Year after completing 295.25 hours of rookie training.

The Get ’er Done Award, sponsored by DeKalb Funeral Chapel, went to Christina Hovey for event leadership, CPR/EMR training facilitation and operational improvements. Assistant Chief Anthony Boyd presented the Officer of the Year Award (sponsored by Wellworth Bank) to Lieutenant Justin Bass, citing his role in leading a departmentwide radio-system transition and sustaining full training attendance.

The Wilson Bank and Trust Firefighter of the Year was presented to firefighter Steven Phelan, described by presenters as a ‘‘servant leader’’ active in search-and-rescue operations, community outreach and the Red Cross Fire Alarm Blitz. The banquet also included a formal honorary lifetime membership: the department’s executive committee voted on 12/07/2025 to extend honorary lifetime membership to Captain Brian Williams, sponsored by Better Homes and Gardens Realty Town and Lake.

In a highlight of the evening, the department honored Firefighter Wilson Williams, who has served continuously with DeKalb County Fire Department since its founding in 1975. The emcee described Williams as the department’s sole member to serve since day one and invited his wife, Lois Williams, to join him for recognition of the family support that underpins long volunteer careers.

Organizers closed by thanking dozens of local businesses and partner agencies — including WJLE radio and Siddons Martin Emergency Group, the night’s production sponsor — and asking attendees to support the businesses and organizations that sustain the department’s work. The department said the event video and photos will be posted to social media in the coming days.