A former Rattlesnake Fire Protection District chief was honored with the dedication of a station he put his heart and soul into. Dale Goetz served many years as the chief of the station before passing away. And at a ceremony on Feb. 21 at Station 51 in Elbert County, Jim White, president of Rattlesnake Fire Protection District, dedicated the station in Dale’s name.

White said throughout Dale’s years at the station he not only contributed many hours, but also led the department through the preparation process of an Insurance Standards Organization review. The ISO is an organization that works for all insurance carriers and they rate fire departments on a scale of 1-9. The ISO rating then helps determine the homeowner’s insurance rate.

White said previously the station had never been reviewed and had an ISO rating of 9 which is the worst rating. White said after Dale’s dedication and hard work before the review in 2000, the rating dropped to a 5, which is almost unheard of for a volunteer agency.

“It was a huge effort to change our rating and Dale is responsible for that change,” he said “We undertook a lot of changes and invested $3 million in equipment.”

White said Dale’s leadership skills and professionalism also made a difference in the department. Dale made major changes in the department’s training programs by developing internal instructors who were able to not only train within the Rattlesnake district but also other fire protection districts.

Also in attendance at the ceremony was County Commissioner Hope Goetz, former wife of Dale. She said the ceremony was moving and said it makes sense that the station would be dedicated to her late husband.

“I think he would be proud. He gave a lot of time in to improving that fire department and bringing it up to the standard it is today,” she said. “