Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

On Tuesday, the Optimist Club of LaGrange announced the final round of its 2024 public service awards, giving out awards for the County Firefighter and Deputy of the Year at the Troup County Board of Commissioners work session.

Although the Optimists have given out Officer of the Year Awards for many years as part of their Respect for Law program, the firefighter awards are a relatively more recent addition. Firefighter awards were added after the tragic events of September 11, 2001, when the club decided to recognize their efforts as well.

This year’s Optimist Club County Firefighter of the Year is Jesse Dodgen.

Dodgen has been with the Troup County Fire Department since June 2021. In those three years, Dodgen has packed in a ton of hard work and a ton of training.

Since joining the department Dodgen has obtained many certifications including: Firefighter 1 and 2, Fire Officer 1 and 2, Haz Mat Tech, Advanced EMT and others.

In just the last calendar year, Dodgen has attended and completed over 400 hours of training and is always willing to teach others what he has learned.

Dodgen also has a passion for physical fitness, encouraging the other firefighters in the department to keep up with their fitness as well, to the benefit of the Troup County citizens.

He always has a positive attitude while on the job and a strong work ethic, according to his supervisors.

Dodgen is one of two firefighters who, along with Sgt. Eric Rogers rescued a man from rushing floodwaters after his vehicle had run off the road into a ravine near Lower Glass Bridge Road and Kimbrough Road during a storm in March.

“Troup County is lucky to have someone like this watching over our community and Troup County is truly better off for having Firefighter Jesse Dodgen within its ranks,” said LaGrange Optimist Club Vice President Hill Daniel.

“There’s nobody that’s putting more time and effort into signing up for classes —sometimes to the frustration level of how are we going to fill his spot on the truck— but there’s nobody more willing and dedicated than Jesse,” Deputy Fire Chief Zac Steele said. “He’s accomplished a lot of training in three years that some people don’t do in 15 or 20 years.”

“We’re extremely proud of him and the sky is the limit for this young man and his future,” Steele said.

Deputy Carrla Querry was also named Deputy of the Year by the Optimists. Querry was featured in the Wednesday edition of the Daily News.