VALDOSTA — When presenting the Firefighter of the Year Award recently, Lowndes County Board of Commissioners Chairman Rod Casey described the recipient, Jeremy Hancock, as a faithful servant of the citizens of Lowndes County. He went on to add that Hancock has been a part of Lowndes County Fire/Rescue’s North Lowndes fire district for the past three years.
“In 2008 alone, Hancock logged in excess of 200 training hours while responding to the majority of calls for service dispatched in the North Lowndes district,” Casey continued. “Hancock not only set an exemplary standard for service locally but nationally as well in that he previously served four years in the United States Air Force.”
Hancock served in the Air Force in Colorado Springs, Colo., as a satellite systems operator and worked as a firefighter in Moultrie for a year before coming to Lowndes County.
In December, Hancock will rejoin the Air Force and attend technical school to train as a space and missiles officer at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
Vandenberg AFB is the headquarters of the 30th Space Wing, which manages Department of Defense space and missile testing and placing satellites into polar orbit from the West Coast, using expendable boosters.
VDT: Describe the first call for assistance you ever responded to as a firefighter with Lowndes County Fire & Rescue.
Hancock: It’s kind of hard to remember. I think it was a structure fire. An old tobacco barn had caught fire because of an electrical short. There wasn’t much left of it by the time we got there. I do remember that the smell of the burning tobacco made everyone real sick.
VDT: Share the story of your funniest moment on the job.
Hancock: A buddy of mine and I were called out on a fire. It was only his second call, and he put his helmet on backwards. We laughed a lot about that.
VDT: What was your most frightening moment as a firefighter?
Hancock: We had responded to a first call on a structure fire. The ceiling fell in and hit me. I had just gotten my black helmet at the time (denoting a year or more of service). Some of the embers rolled down my back and inside my gear, and at first I thought I was on fire. I became a stripper real quick.
VDT: Describe the weirdest thing that ever happened on a call.
Hancock: If we show up to a fire and people start yelling not to save it, that always brings some suspicion to it. Sometimes we receive the weirdest requests to save things. We responded to one fire where this lady said, “Please save my monkey and my snakes.” When you’re about to go into a burning building, the last thing you want to hear is, “Please save my python.” The lady had one monkey or chinchilla, nine cats, a goat and two snakes.
Local News
Related Photos
-
Firefighter Jeremy Hancock has been named the Lowndes County Fire/Rescue Firefighter of the Year.
Discussion
Firefighter of the year
- Local News
-
-
Tropical storm brings much needed rain to drought-stricken region
Lowndes County is in for a soaking today as Tropical Storm Beryl passes through the area, according to the National Weather Service.
-
Wild Adventures unveils revamped animal show
A Chilean Rose tarantula, an albino Burmese python and American alligators headline Wild Adventures’ revamped “Creature Feature Extreme” show, as the exhibit kicked off its summer schedule last week in a newly constructed amphitheater.
Previously titled “Creature Feature,” the new variant of the show features some of the most popular animals from the previous exhibit. -
Pausing to honor those who gave all
Two Memorial Day ceremonies will be held at Sunset Hill Cemetery Monday to honor the fallen veterans of our country’s past and current wars.
-
Fallen hero memorialized
Amid cries of jubilation from the mother of a fallen local veteran, a new memorial was unveiled Saturday afternoon, at the intersection of North Valdosta Road and Inner Perimeter, in honor of the late Petty Officer First Class Joseph Adam McSween.
-
VHS Class of 2012 graduates
Valdosta High School’s Class of 2012 gathered Friday night at the Valdosta State University PE Complex to celebrate the graduation of roughly 350 seniors.
-
Qualifying ends
Citizens engaged in their local political landscape will have plenty of options this July and November as dozens of candidates qualified on Friday.
-
Resident escapes from blaze
A citizen escaped an aggressive fire with only minor cuts and bruises Friday afternoon, as wind amplified the flames from the blaze that started inside of his St. Augustine Road residence.
-
Weekend preview with Brittany McClure
Find out what's going on this weekend with Brittany McClure.
-
Popular vendor taken out of the ballparks
With a wagon-load of fresh cakes, hot boiled peanuts and ice-cold bottled water she has witnessed generations of children, or as she refers to them, her angels, grow into adults with children of their own.
-
Three candidates file for election
Qualifications for Lowndes County general primaries continue with the addition of a couple new candidates interested in running for elected office.
- More Local News Headlines
-
