COVINGTON, Ga. - City of Covington Fire Department officials learned they will be recommended for reaccredited status from an evaluation team for the Center for Public Safety Excellence.

The process involves a stringent review of more than 1,000 pages of internal documents, interviews, auditing of the Fire, E911, Human Resources and Finance departments and satisfying 56 core competencies and a large percentage of more than 250 performance indicators.

“This is an extremely rigorous and complex process,” Fire Chief Jeremy Holmes said. “At the end of the evaluation, we receive a list of action items with our best practices and ways we can serve our community better. It is invaluable to our department.”

The four person evaluation team from different fire departments across the country began their assessment on Sunday with a tour of the city and continued working through today when they made their recommendation.

“Departments that seek to go through the accreditation process are the already the best of the best, and Covington is no exception” evaluator Ralph Ensign said. “We are pleased to recommend the City of Covington Fire Department for reaccreditation.”

To officially receive reaccredited status, Covington fire officials will travel to California in March, 2019 to complete an interview with the Center for Public Safety Excellence at which time the board of directors will vote to award reaccreditation. 

If awarded, the March reaccreditation will be Covington’s fourth with their initial accreditation coming in 2003. 

“I am extremely proud of our fire department for this accomplishment and I applaud their efforts,” City Manager Leigh Anne Knight said. “We have several accredited departments and I know exactly how much effort goes into the process, but at the end of the day, it makes us a better, more efficient city for our residents and that is what drives us.”