John Caffin, (Representing the Randolf District), has lived in the Hoschton area for 17 years.

John worked as a Federal Firefighter for the U.S. Forest Service in a variety of roles for 34 years and retired as the Regional Emergency Operations Specialist for the Southern Region. He still serves as a Federal Emergency Response Official (ESF4) when requested, coordinating federal firefighting resources during national level emergencies and disasters.

During his long career John gained qualifications as an Incident Commander, Operations Section Chief, Safety Officer, Air Operations Branch Director, Division Supervisor, and more. During his first 20 years he was an Emergency Medical Technician and he served on a National Incident Management team for ten years responding to wildfires and other emergencies before being promoted as a Regional Coordinator.

He has served in leadership roles in disaster areas during emergency responses to floods, hurricanes, tornados, fires, and disease outbreaks. He has also helped coordinate during terrorism events and planned for and coordinated training exercises for all manner of disasters from earthquakes to zoonotic disease outbreaks. As a lead instructor and facilitator for many courses related to positions for which he was qualified, John has taught at fire academies and training centers across the country.

As a federal employee he was selected to travel overseas to assist other countries leadership with emergency preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation training. He continues to help others by teaching courses in Incident Command, Disaster Leadership, Multiagency Coordination, and Emergency Management for USAID, UNDP, the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center, and others, having worked in Ethiopia, Portugal, Nicaragua, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Bangladesh, and elsewhere.

John was added to the board in 2020 and is proud to serve the West Jackson Fire Department Staff and its Leadership Team.

He has been married to Debbie Caffin for 28 years and has a Bachelor’s Degree from Florida State University.

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