Newspaper Page Text
Wednesday, May 9,2018
dawsonnews.com I DAWSON COUNTY NEWS I 7A
Swafford bids farewell to Dawson EMS
By Allie Dean
adean@dawsonnews.com
At a farewell party at
Fire Station No. 1 on
Friday, Lanier Swafford
celebrated over 25 years
of serving in the Dawson
County emergency servic
es department, most
recently as fire chief and
emergency services direc
tor.
Surrounded by col
leagues, friends and fami
ly, Swafford was present
ed with a fire axe com
memorating his many
years of dedicated service
during the celebration
May 4.
At 5 p.m., Dawson
County E911 personnel
broadcast a non-emergen
cy message in honor of
Swafford’s service.
“Today Chief Lanier
Swafford retires from full
time services as Chief of
Dawson County
Emergency Services,” the
message said. “On behalf
of all the men and women
of Dawson County, we
would like to thank him
for his years of selfless
service to Dawson
County. We also wish him
the best in his future
endeavors. Car 1 is now
out of service, ending tour
of duty.”
The sentiment was
reflected all across the
county on Friday, and
many citizens, coworkers,
friends and family of
Swafford took to
Facebook, posting well
wishes and words of
encouragement.
Fire Battalion Chief
Jason Dooley coined a
farewell to his chief.
“He is a firefighter’s fire
chief that puts his men
and women first.” he
wrote. “His leadership and
friendship will be missed
at DCES headquarters.
However, his legacy will
live on and I have no
doubt that he will go great
things wherever he
decides to go.”
Part-time firefighter and
paramedic Brandon Carey
said that Swafford made
him believe in himself.
“Chief Swafford never
told us how to lead, he
showed us,” Carey wrote.
“Chief Swafford lifted his
men and women up, and
put them before himself,
every time. You always
saw him doing it. He
would never have to tell
you he was doing it. If
you were lucky enough,
like me, you served along
side Chief. We felt pro
tected, proud, and trusted
that he would be there.”
Former Emergency
Services Director and cur
rent Dawson County
Commission Chairman
Billy Thurmond said on
Tuesday that Swafford has
“done an outstanding job
serving the citizens of
Dawson County over the
past 25 plus years.”
“His experience and
dedication will truly be
missed,” Thurmond said.
Bearden Funeral Home
owner and director Ted
Bearden has known
Swafford his whole life.
“He was on the staff
since the day I bought the
funeral home and is still
on the staff,” Bearden said
Tuesday. “I don’t know of
anybody I could ever
name who is more dedi
cated to helping his fellow
man than (Swafford.) He
always thinks of others
before himself and does
every job with dignity and
class. I think it’s a great
loss for the county.”
Swafford addressed the
outpour of affection in a
post of his own.
“To each of you who
have called, spoke,
prayed, posted or took
time out of your busy day
Friday to come by the sta
tion-thank you. You will
never know what your
friendship and support
means to me,” Swafford
wrote. “Nothing I have
ever accomplished would
have been possible with
out the help and direction
of God first and foremost,
my family, friends and the
team at Dawson County
Emergency Services.
“And now...as we move
into the future, an earlier
post mentioned my fre
quent use of Fombardi’s
quotes. One of my favor
ites is this: “The only
place that success comes
before work — hard work
— is in the dictionary.”
The last 25 years have
been some of the best of
my life and as I look back
and realize that is well
over half my life — I do
not regret one minute of
it. It’s time to go to work!”
Swafford began his
career as a volunteer fire
fighter with Dawson
County in 1989. He occu
pied many roles in the fire
department including
working as an EMT, para
medic, EMS division
chief, fire chief, deputy
chief and chief of emer
gency services until he
took over the role of
emergency services direc
tor from Thurmond in
2015.
He also serves as depu
ty coroner and worked as
an embalmer at Bearden
Funeral Home.
A nationally certified
firefighter, fire inspector,
instructor and paramedic,
he holds multiple certifi
cations and degrees
including a bachelor’s
degree in fire science
administration. He was
president of the Georgia
State Firefighters
Association and chairman
of the Georgia Firefighters
Standards and Training
Council, as appointed by
the speaker of the House,
and is recognized as a
Professional Emergency
Manager by the Georgia
Emergency Management
Agency.
He is married to Amy
and the pair has two sons,
Brendan and Bailey. They
reside in Dawsonville and
attend Bethel Baptist
Church, where Swafford
is a deacon.
Swafford said he looks
forward to continuing to
aid Dawson County as a
volunteer firefighter.
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