The Georgia SPARTAN Firefighter Course was started in Douglas in 2018. The class was written to be an “in-house” class, but once others outside of the Douglas Fire Department heard about it, interest in the class grew and we opened the class up to outside agencies. The course is a 1 day/24 hour class that was written for newer firefighters to expand their basic skills while learning that they can push themselves, both mentally and physically, past their own expectations and still succeed on an emergency scene. The class stresses physical and mental preparedness, firefighter survival, interior search and rescue, and live fire during the class. The class size is held to a maximum of 12 students because of the class structure. Each graduating SPARTAN receives a SPARTAN number and is eligible to come back and help teach within the program. 
Although the class was written by Douglas Fire Department instructors and is hosted at the Douglas Fire Department Training Facility, the Georgia SPARTAN Firefighter Course is a stand alone program with a SPARTAN Council consisting of 8 firefighters from throughout the state. Each class is funded through SPARTAN dues and donations. Each instructor teaches the class free of charge and actually pays dues for the opportunity to help with the program. The class is entirely free to the students. The Georgia SPARTAN Firefighter Course has been approved for 24 hours of continuing education by the Georgia Firefighter Standards and Training Council.
The first class was held on March 24, 2018 and consisted of 8 students and 7 instructors, all from the Douglas Fire Department. The Douglas Fire Department hosts 2 SPARTAN classes a year. We have graduates from throughout the State of Georgia and have even branched out into Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina and Florida.