Fire Coordinator Clifford Galey can now rest easy if he needs totake a vacation, or if he’s out of commission for any reason.

Assistant Fire Coordinator Randy Jordan was appointed at theyearly Volunteer Fire Department Association Banquet on July 28,where he was elected by his fellow volunteer firefighters from allthe departments in Lincoln County. He was then approved by theLincoln County Board of Supervisors.

“It’s an honor to help the fire service in any way I can withany position I’m offered,” he said.

Jordan has been with the Hog Chain Volunteer Fire Department forjust over 10 years, and currently serves as a lieutenant andpresident of the HCVFD Association.

The duties of the assistant fire coordinator kick in when thefire coordinator is out of town or for some reason unable toperform his duties. Galey said in a situation like Monday’s500-acre-plus grass and woods fire, if he were out of town, it’s apossibility his duties would fall to Jordan. He said that partiallydepends on the incident command structure at whatever the incidentmight be, however.

But Jordan’s new duties will definitely include paperwork.

“He’ll be signing off on tags for the firefighters,” said Galey.”And doing whatever other duties need to be done.”

Jordan said those duties would possibly include some of theduties he’s already familiar with as president of the Hog ChainVolunteer Fire Department Association, such as arranging meetingsor standing in if Galey can’t be available, though the situationwill be on a case-by-case basis.

“I’m going to have to learn some from Clifford,” he said. “He’sinvolved in a lot of things, and he’s a great man to watch andlearn from.”

Galey not only serves as fire coordinator, but also as thedirector of Civil Defense, director of Homeland Security and CountySafety Coordinator. Jordan said that’s why working with him will beso educational.

“I definitely will be learning as much as I can to help him inany way I can as assistant fire coordinator,” he said. “Hopefullythere will be times I can help him by freeing him up for some ofhis other duties.”

Jordan said those duties won’t be anything unusual for him. AsHog Chain president, he’s seen his share of the paperwork.

“I handle all the business of our department,” he said. “I’mover purchasing all the equipment, organizing the meetings, andmaking sure the books are in order.”

As closely as Lincoln County’s volunteer fire departments work,Jordan is someone the other departments are already familiar with.Galey said that’s one reason he’s a good man for the job.

“Randy’s always around and everybody knows him. He’s been aroundquite a while,” he said.

Under Jordan and Fire Chief John Hart, the Hog Chain firedepartment works together not only with the other departments, butwith the community.

“I get to plan all the Enterprise School fire drills,” he said.”And we helped the Bogue Chitto Volunteer Fire Department do theirfire drill at Bogue Chitto. We hope to do that again thisyear.”

The members of Jordan’s department say he’s capable not only forthe job of HCVFD president or assistant fire coordinator, but forany task set before him.

“He’s a good man to work with,” said Hog Chain volunteer RobertHolcomb.

Jordan said when he got involved with volunteer firefighting, hewasn’t aiming to be in charge of anything. He was just doing it forthe love of firefighting.

“I actually joined just to fight fire and have fun doing it,” hesaid.