City of Fayetteville Fire Department Assistant Chief Steven Woodworth

Assistant Chief Steven Woodworth has demonstrated his dedication to the Fire Service for over 36 years. He has excelled passing on the passion, traditions and legacy of a firefighter. It is said “that the best thing an experienced firefighter can teach a young firefighter is to be an old firefighter”. If you asked a group of firefighters in a class if they knew him, the majority would raise their hand. He is very knowledgeable in all areas of Firefighting, Hazardous Materials, Rescue and Command. Steven Woodworth should be recognized for his commitment of Education and Training to the Fire Service in Georgia and across the United States.

In the late 1970’s as a young teenager, he began going on fires in rural Coweta County when it was just a volunteer department with his dad. After high school, he joined the United States Air Force as a firefighter in 1982. After his 4-year commitment of military service, he began his Full-Time career at the Henry County Fire Department. He then moved to DeKalb County Fire Department from 1988 to 1991, which he was part of their Hazmat team. He helped teach and develop Hazmat courses at DeKalb and at the Georgia Fire Academy.
In 1991, he went to the City of Atlanta Fire Department as a firefighter to advance in his career. He was later assigned to Squad 4 and learned about Thermal Imaging. He taught image interpretation and search tactics using the ne

w device across the nation. Basically “Thermal Imaging Cameras” helped give firefighters the advantage of seeing through smoke. He was later promoted to Lieutenant and helped develop Atlanta Rapid Intervention SCBA Training. As Captain, he began to assist in developing the Georgia Search and Rescue Program in Atlanta. He was the Chairman of the Metro GSAR Planning Committee. Which was responsible for training of 100+ personnel in in disciplines of Rope, Confined Space and Structural Collapse. He later became a Battalion Chief in the Third Battalion. He presently serves as the Operations Section Chief for Georgia Emergency Management Agencies Area 7 All Hazards Incident Management Team. He was promoted to Assistant Chief and held that position at the Airport Operations, Special Operations and is currently a Shift Commander of B Shift.
At the Fayetteville Fire Department, he began as a volunteer firefighter and helped teach classes to our growing department in 2003. He was later hired as a part time firefighter. He was later assigned as our part­time Training Officer as a Captain and continues to serve in that role today.
Woodworth has developed and implement the following courses at our department: Drivers Training/ Hydraulics Program, Confined Space Operations Program, Command Training Program, Officer in Charge Training, Liquid Propane Classes and Burns, Thermal Imaging Training Program and coordinated a Fast Track class and Recruits. All of these training programs are third party certified. He has taught several National Fire Academy classes at our department. This included multiple session of both, Incident Command for High-rise Operations and Incident Command System for Structural Collapse Incidents.

Throughout his career, he has taught numerous classes at the Georgia Fire Academy along with other departments in South Metro area including Fayetteville, Fairburn, Peachtree City, Coweta and Fayette Counties. Woodworth has been a Lead Instructor and Deacon in the Georgia Smoke Diver Program for many years. For over 10 years, he was a lead instructor at the Fire Department Instructors Conference. He has taught at Firehouse Expo’s and the Metro Atlanta Firefighters Conference. He has Co-Authored a book “Fighting Fire with Foam”. He has written numerous articles in Firehouse and Fire Engineering Magazines. Currently developing a Thermal Imaging Class for Georgia Fire Academy. In 2012, Woodworth was selected as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Award Winner for Firefighter of the Year for Post 3650. After winning the local award, he was selected as the Veterans of Foreign Wars Award Winner for the State of Georgia too.
Steven Woodworth has earned the respect from his peers from around the State and even across the Nation with his training classes. He has basically taught for just about his entire career. Teaching thousands of firefighters in the many disciplines of the job. It is hard to summarize for all that he has done in and for the Fire Service. I feel that Steven Woodworth should be awarded the 2018 Ronnie Thames Foundation Education and Community Award.