Cohutta continues recovery after 2022 fire with donated motorcycle
Cohutta police officers accepting the donation of a 2009 Harley Davidson motorcycle from the Chattanooga Police Department. (Courtesy: Chattanooga Police Department)
COHUTTA, Ga. (WDEF)- In Whitfield County, the Cohutta Police Department continues their long road of recovery following a devastating fire.
On the morning of December 18, 2022, the Cohutta Police Department’s building was destroyed in a blaze.
In that fire, they lost the vast majority of their equipment, and have struggled to fully recover from that incident over the past two years.
Lt. Ryan Fowler of the Cohutta Police Department said, “Over the past 24 months, we’ve been rebuilding like the Phoenix coming out of the ashes coming back from nothing to something.”
That road back to fully serving the community of roughly 800 residents has been difficult.
You can still see the impacts of this fire in this small North Georgia town over two years later.
The Police Department, operates out of this church building over two years after the disaster.
Lt. Fowler said, “We’ve lost almost $550,000 in equipment, and insurance did not come close to covering those needs.”
Funding small police departments such in smaller towns as Cohutta are difficult without a disaster.
Sgt. Tommy Selter of the Chattanooga Police Department said, “We’re a bigger department, fourth largest in the state, so we have a little bigger of a budget. These small towns just don’t have that.”
Monday, the Cohutta Police Department got some help from the Chattanooga Police Department, as CPD donated a motorcycle to their department.
The bike is a 2009 Harley Davidson that has been in use by Chattanooga Police for several years.
Lt. Fowler said, “We’re going to use this motorcycle not just for enforcement efforts with the Governor’s Office of Highway Safety, but also motorcycle education, because where we are in Cohutta we have a growing motorcycle community with weekly bike nights on Thursdays at a local restaurant and other venues.”
He says this is another healing step for not just the department, but the entire town.
Lt. Fowler said, “To see how much people really do care about public safety. Not only our personal lives but our professional lives, and so it’s a reciprocation, we’re usually the ones trying to go out and do that. To see the reverse love in giving back, it’s huge. I’ve brought to tears a number of times.”
Cohutta PD will be staying at the former church building as they make it their permanent home.
