Meet Noemi Garcia! Noemi is one of five female firefighters with Hall County Fire Services and also is an EMT! She is a lifelong Gainesville resident and graduated from Lanier Tech and Gainesville High School.
“I love getting dirty and being hands on, I’m not your typical girlie girl,” she said.
Noemi’s mother is Maria Garcia and Noemi is the fourth of six children and loved growing up with a big family.
We want to thank Noemi for recently spending time with us and letting us know more about her life and love of Hall County.
Question: What inspired you or led you to your current career?
Answer: “Honestly, it kind of all started with EMS. I was already an EMT when I got hired on. I went to Lanier Tech for that. I didn’t know what I wanted to do after high school. My brother encouraged me to go into EMS…I applied it blew my mind and it was completely different. When I was taking EMT school at night, the paramedics were there during the day and of course all the Hall County guys were encouraging me to work with them. Lieutenant (Angie) Davis and Lieutenant Jarrard really opened my eyes about fighting fire and skills…they are the ones that made me love what I do now.”
Q: What do you like most about being a firefighter?
A: “I like moving and doing hands on stuff…I love being the first one at the scene to see everything and go from there, whether I’m going to be inside fighting a fire at a house or I’m going to be helping someone off the floor or inside a car. Hall County doesn’t just do fire, they do rope training which is why I love this station because they do that here. The have the extrication tool and they bring that over here with a car and we get to tear things up and have fun with it. It’s not just fire, we go out in the community and help in some way.”
Q: What is one of your most memorable experiences with Hall County Fire Services that you would like to share?
A: “It would be my first fire, it was a small RV fire and I was stationed at Station #6 in Lula and I was terrified and I wanted to keep training because I didn’t know how I would react, would I freeze up? When I got there I saw a big fire on the side of the road and my lieutenant said for me to go a head and fight it by myself. They gave me the hose and said ‘go for it!’
Q: What is your favorite restaurant in Hall County, and what do you love there?
A: “Wild Wing. I love the Italian wings there.” 
Q: Who is the most interesting person you’ve met in Hall County and why?
A: “Chris Jarrard, he was my Lieutenant and he always ran circles around us.”
Q: What is your favorite childhood memory?
A: “My favorite childhood memory would be in high school at Gainesville, my junior and senior year I did broadcast and my teacher let me record whatever I want to, so I recorded the football games, soccer games and whatever was going on. After that, I would edit them and upload them on a website so the whole world could actually see it! 
Q: If you could travel anywhere in the world right now, where would it be and why?
A: “Detroit, for fire training. They fight fires there constantly and I would love to get hands on training with them.”
Q: What is the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
A: “‘Alice in Wonderland’ the Johnny Depp version.”
Q: What is something on your bucket list?
A: “Isn’t sky diving on everyone’s bucket list? I would love to do that.”
Q: What is your favorite thing about Hall County?
A: “My favorite part about Hall County is that we have the lake and go out in nature, but we also can go to downtown Gainesville or Flowery Branch and have the opportunity for the city life.”
Q: Where do you see yourself in five or 10 years?
A: “In five to 10 years I would love to have my paramedic license and be flying for Erlanger and working as a flight medic.”
Q: What three words mean “Home” to you?
A: “Come on in. When someone says ‘come on in’ and is inviting me into their personal space, they are saying my house is your house and you are welcome.”
The Faces of Hall County is a project to showcase the amazing people that live or work in our community. If you would like to nominate an interesting person to be featured please email babernathy@gonorton.com.