Duplin hires new Emergency Services director
By Bonnie Edwards
Published in News on December 9, 2004 1:58 PM
KENANSVILLE -- Duplin County has a new director of emergency services.
Craig Forlines started Nov. 23. He will commute from Grifton until he sells his house and moves to Duplin. He replaces Dorothy Cavenaugh, who retired.
When asked why he chose to come to Duplin County, given the current turmoil over reorganizing of EMS, he said he believes there's a solution to every problem, "and the solution needs to be what's best for the citizens. I'd like to be a part of that process."
Forlines comes from Pitt County where he was the deputy director for the Emergency Services Department, which has 21 fire departments and 10 emergency medical service stations. Duplin has 20 fire departments and six EMS stations.
He was a founding member of the High Angle rescue team, which helps people trapped in buildings.
He was an EMS specialist when Hurricane Floyd came through eastern North Carolina. While his own house was being invaded by water, he was rescuing people and helping perform evacuations.
Forlines and his wife, Jennifer, have two sons, Drew, 14, and Zack, 12.
He is enrolled at Mount Olive College as a senior in organizational development and personnel management.
He said he enjoys serving the public, but it was never a conscious choice. He went straight into the Army after high school, then went to school for aviation. The Pitt County native was going to school in Lenoir County when he discovered that Duplin was looking for someone to work at the airport near Kenansville.
Airport Manager George Futrelle said Forlines was a welcome sight when he came, because he had just worked 49 days straight without a day off. Forlines later worked at the Greenville airport as a crash-fire rescue worker.
Forlines praised his new staff at Duplin Emergency Services, especially Administrative Assistant Peggy Davis, Fire Marshal Jimmy Pate, Assistant Fire Marshal Linwood Kennedy and Communications Director Denita Pierce.
"I have a great staff to work with," he said. "We'll be able to accomplish new and great things for the citizens."
He doesn't plan to make any changes right away. He said he believes in evaluating things first. He expects that to take at least three months.
"I believe in making informed, prepared decisions and not jumping into things," he said.