A veteran firefighter is the first person to hold the job full-time.
FARMINGTON – Franklin County has named a longtime Farmington firefighter the new director for its emergency management office.
After a two-month search, commissioners announced Tuesday that Tim Hardy, 54, would start as Emergency Management Agency director on March 1.
Hardy replaced Clyde Barker, who left in December after serving since 1991, citing that the job’s long hours were starting to take a toll on his health.
In the past, the directorship had been listed as a part-time post but after Barker made a case for the position to be expanded to full-time, commissioners agreed unanimously to do so.
Hardy will be the first full-time EMA director in the county, and will make $25,000 per year, plus benefits, according to county clerk Julie Magoon.
Hardy runs a small automobile repair shop out of his Farmington home. On Tuesday, he said he’ll phase out of that business over the next month.
Hardy first got into emergency services when he joined the Farmington Fire Department in 1978. He quickly moved up the ranks, becoming a lieutenant in 1984, an assistant chief in 1991 and in April of 2001 was promoted to deputy chief, a position he still maintains.
“There is something about firefighting,” Hardy explained on Tuesday, stressing that he will stay on with the department. “Once it gets in your blood, it’s there forever.”
His experience in emergency services will be his biggest asset in his job, Hardy said, citing that he has worked with the Fire Department to help locals weather many natural disasters, like the Ice Storm in 1998.
Farmington Fire Chief Terry Bell agreed.
“He has been around this stuff for a long time,” Bell said. “He’ll know how to get things done and he’ll do a good job.”
Bell, who has worked alongside Hardy for more than 25 years, said what is most notable about Hardy is his dedication both to fighting fires and to the community. “He takes his job quite seriously,” Bell noted.
Hardy applied for the job because of his passion for people and for emergency services, he said. “I’ve always enjoyed emergency services and working with the public and helping them out. And I look forward to whatever challenges are ahead.”
Hardy’s wife, Vicki, is clerk of courts for Franklin County. The couple have two children, Tim Hardy who is a lieutenant in the Farmington Fire Department, and a daughter, Tammy Cowan, who lives with her husband in Pennsylvania.
An avid outdoorsman who loves boating, snowmobiling and hunting, Hardy said he thinks he’ll stay at his new post until he retires. “I’ve been in this area my whole life,” he said. “I am not going anywhere now.”
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