Kannapolis Fire Department announces promotions, welcomes new personnel
Published 12:00 am Sunday, February 11, 2024
- Pictured, from left, firefighters Blake Thomas and Brad Harrington, Captain Jermie Carter, Asst. Fire Chief TJ Cook, engineer Corey Cox, Capt. Clay Sellers, and engineer Bubba McLaughlin. Chris Morris is not pictured. - Submitted
KANNAPOLIS — The Kannapolis Fire Department announced the promotions of several staff members and welcomed two new firefighters to the department.
Battalion Chief T.J. Cook will now serve as an assistant chief. Cook’s firefighting career began in 1996 when he joined the Salisbury Fire Department. He has been with the Kannapolis Fire Department for 24 years. He has a bachelor’s degree in fire administration and a master’s degree in emergency services management from Columbia Southern University.
He and his wife, Alisha, have five children.
Captain Chris Morris was promoted to battalion chief. Morris joined the department in 2008 and has a total of 26 years in the fire service. He was promoted to engineer in 2011 and to captain in 2013. He and his wife, Megan, have three children.
Jeremi Carter and Clay Sellers will now serve as captains after being promoted from the role of engineers.
Carter has been with the department since 2016 and has a total of 20 years of firefighting experience. He has associate degrees in emergency management and fire protection technology from Rowan-Cabarrus Community College and a bachelor’s degree in fire and emergency services administration from Fayetteville State University.
Sellers began working for the Kannapolis Fire Department 16 years ago. He and his wife, Hannah, have two children.
Corey Cox and Bubba McLaughlin will move up from serving as firefighters and are now engineers.
Cox has been with the Kannapolis Fire Department since 2018. He and his wife, Alex, have one son. McLaughlin joined the Kannapolis Fire Department in 2021. He is married to Megan. Cox and McLaughlin are both volunteers with the Atwell Volunteer Fire Department.
The department welcomes Brad Harrington and Blake Thomas as firefighters.
Harrington has two years of firefighting experience and served in the U.S. Army. He is married and has one child.
Thomas previously worked for the Town of Mooresville Fire and Rescue Department and has been a volunteer for the Mt. Pleasant Fire Department. He has one child.
