New County Fire/EMS Chief Named

Britt Worthan has been named Division Chief for the Douglas County Fire/EMS Department, replacing the retired Danny Murdock. Chief Worthan has been with the Department since August 1986 when he joined as a Firefighter in Station No. 1, Lithia Springs.  He has progressed through his career as Driver (1987), Lieutenant (1989), Captain (2005), and now Division Chief.  In addition to his Firefighter Certification, Chief Worthan is an EMT-Intermediate which is authorized to provide advanced life support.

Division Chief Worthan now supervises the Department’s “A” shift, one of three 24-hour shifts of the Fire/EMS Service.  All station personnel serve 24 hours on/48 hours off.  “B” shift is supervised by Division Chief David Earl Brown, and “C” shift is supervised by Division Chief Mickey Shelton. The Division Chiefs report to Deputy Fire Chief Kim Ransom and Fire Chief Scott Spencer.  The Division Chiefs are headquartered at Fire Station No. 10 in downtown Douglasville.

Chief Worthan has spent his whole professional career with the Douglas County Fire/EMS Department.  He noted that it is important who a firefighter’s first officer/supervisor is because they help to mold the young recruit, including his training, responsiveness, and future goals. Fire Chief Scott Spencer was Chief Worthan’s first officer/supervisor, and Worthan stated that “Scott set high standards for himself and for those for whom he was responsible” and this helped him set his professional goals and work ethic.

Chief Worthan said that the biggest change in his new duties is the amount of administrative work for which he is now responsible.  Each Division Chief manages all ten fire stations during his shift, schedules and coordinates the training of the staff, and serves as incident commander for most of the occurrences during his shift.  He stated that the “responsibility was huge” but his training and experience made him up to the task.

Chief Worthan is a Douglas County native, and has lived in the County his whole life, first in Beulah and now in Fairplay. Since taking over the position of Division Chief, he said that the “acceptance and support from the firefighters has been wonderful.”  He had spent his whole career as an employee on “B” shift so he knew the personnel from that shift better than the others, but that the personnel on “A” shift that he now commands have been extremely welcoming and supportive.

Chief Worthan is a Douglas County native, and has lived in the County his whole life, first in Beulah and now in Fairplay. He is a graduate of Douglas County High School. He is married to Kim and they have three girls - Niki, Amber, and Brittany - and four grandchildren.