Dalton Firefighter Commended For Off-Duty Heroics

Tuesday, March 18th, 2025

A Dalton firefighter is never truly off duty, just off the clock. That proved to be true in February when Dalton firefighter Seth Coley took action while leaving his gym to help a motorist injured in a crash. Coley was received a commendation Tuesday morning at the meeting of the Dalton Public Safety Commission. 

The two-car crash happened near the intersection of the North Bypass and Sawgrass Drive on February 7th. Coley came to the scene of the crash just after it had happened and found one of the cars in the ditch. He got out of his car and assessed the scene, and checked on the people inside the vehicle. Coley then helped one of the passengers out of the car and onto the ground. Then, despite not having any equipment to protect himself, he climbed inside of the car to help the driver of the vehicle who was still trapped inside. 

Caption: Firefighter Seth Coley (left) was given a certificate of commendation on Tuesday by Chief Matt Daniel (right)

"Lots of nurses from the Priority Care were heading over (to the crash scene)," Coley said Tuesday. "There was a woman with a severe injury to her arm, a compound fracture. One of the doctors was already holding (the driver's neck) stable so I climbed inside of the car and held her wrist stable until firefighters and EMTs could get on scene." 

Once a fire truck arrived, Coley helped the first responders to get a backboard in position and held the patient stable until she could be transported from the scene. 

"Your efforts throughout the incident afforded the patient the best possible chance for survival and resulted in a successful patient outcome," Fire Chief Matt Daniel said Tuesday while presenting Coley with a certificate of commendation. "Your exemplary performance speaks to your character, professionalism, and the dedicated service our department provides to our citizens."