This browser does not support the Video element.
Honoring the memory of beloved firefighter and family
Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services has a new way to keep the memory of firefighter Justin Hicks close. Hicks and his wife were brutally murdered last year. Now, there are road signs at the Fire Training Center in their honor.
CHEROKEE COUNTY, Ga - Cherokee County Fire and Emergency Services has a new way to keep the memory of firefighter Justin Hicks close. Hicks and his wife were brutally murdered last year. Now, there are road signs at the Fire Training Center in their honor.
At the Training Center there are buildings and roads to help simulate real live scenarios. At each of the five intersections, there are now street signs named after Justin and Amber Hicks, and their young son Jacob.
Cherokee County Fire Chief Eddie Robinson spoke as the signs were being unveiled with the help of Amber's father, Mark Boggs.
"I can assure you that Justin, Amber and Jacob will never, ever be forgotten by the members of this organization," said Chief Robinson.
Justin joined the Cherokee County Fire Department in 2015 and held the rank of Fire Apparatus Operator/Paramedic.
"He was a true friend. Happy, motivated, loved this job, loved his family, loved his friends," said Cherokee County Fire Lt. Michael Sims.
Justin and Amber were murdered in November of last year in their Acworth home. A 22-year-old whose family lived next door is charged with killing them.
"It hit everyone in our department, and the brother and sisterhood of the fire service, it hit us really hard," said Lt. Sims.
In addition to the street names, soon the buildings will have numerical address. Each number assigned will mark a special date in the Hicks' lives, such as the date of their birthdays or anniversary.
Some signs are named in support of Justin and Amber's young son, Jacob. He was only 2 when his parents died.
Shortly after the new street names were unveiled, they were used in the very first radio transmission when a dispatch call for a fire at 904 Jacob Avenue came into the training center.
"The names of Justin and Amber and their son will be heard for years to come over our radio waves. We hope that years down the road when someone asks, 'Who was Justin? Who was Amber? Why are these names here?' that will keep the story and the legacy going of what great people they were, what a great friend to all our firefighters they were and an outstanding firefighter and paramedic Justin was," said Lt. Sims.
While Jacob no longer has his parents, he does have an entire family of firefighters to support him. After the deaths of Justin and Amber, fellow firefighters set up a foundation for the little boy's future.