Professional Profile
Georgia Forestry Commission (GFC)

 

We’ve all enjoyed watching action heroes on TV and in the movies. People such as Bruce Willis, Harrison Ford and the like, fighting the elements with ease. But what does it take to be a real life action hero? Someone who is capable of fighting wildfires, directing hurricane response teams or landslide rescue operations? He won’t boast about the part, but Fire and Emergency Management Specialist, Jerome Harvey, of the Georgia Forestry Commission, certainly lives up to the role.

Forests, fires, and the rugged outdoors are all part of Harvey’s history. His great grandfather was a homesteader in the Black Hills of South Dakota in 1896, and his family has been there ever since. Jerome was born into a ranching family on Bear Butte Creek, S.D., surrounded by a host of true grit experiences.

“It was always neighbors helping neighbors,” he said, referring to countless times he and his father would throw shovels on the pickup truck and help fight the fires that came their way. “I grew up learning about livestock and the forest. We had cattle, but had no time for stinkin’ horses,” he laughed. “The best part was I grew up with self-reliance, and we didn’t have MTV!”

In 1986, Harvey cut his “rescue teeth” by joining the Emergency Medical Technician team for Northern Hills General Hospital Ambulance Service in Deadwood, S.D. He has been certified ever since, while adding a long list of qualifications to his resume. He is an instructor in First Aid and CPR, Mine Safety, Fire & Rescue, among many others. He’s proficient in vertical rescue, farm extrication, hazardous materials, wildland fire behavior, and the Incident Command System. He has Bachelor’s Degrees in History and Business from Black Hills State University, Federal Emergency Management Agency training in Leadership, Fire Safety, Fire Command, and HazMat, among others, and a myriad of firefighting, rescue and emergency management certifications. He has worked as an Emergency Firefighter, a Fire Captain, an Emergency Management Coordinator, Fire Department Administrator member of Incident Management Teams and Assistant Fire Chief.

Harvey’s active career brought him to Florida in response to the hurricanes of 2004. It was there he got to know the Professionals from the Georgia Forestry Commission, who were also serving the hurricane-struck state. In 2005, he joined the GFC ranks and has been taking on added responsibilities ever since. Currently he serves as dispatch supervisor, leads and manages wireless voice communications for the agency, and serves as a point of contact to GEMA for all hazard response. He also serves on the fire staff, which leads and manages Prescribed Fire, Air Operations and others, including the Type 2 Incident Management Team.

“Every day I try to make a difference for our Rangers in the field,” Harvey said. “What I do directly impacts what they can do.”

While Harvey’s job keeps him on the go, this single, forty-something’s free time is often spent near his Dry Branch home. He enjoys walking in the nearby woods and snow skiing in the North Carolina mountains. He said he is away from home too much to have pets, but admits to missing the Beta fish he once enjoyed keeping.

“I got too attached to them,” he laughed. When they went belly-up, “It was too hard on me!”

And after three years, how does life in Georgia compare to his old home in South Dakota?

“I still steer away from boiled peanuts and grits, but Georgia’s a good place to live.”

~ by Stasia Kelly, GFC Writer