By T. Scott Boatright
Tornadoes, train derailments, and even a hurricane that roared through Ruston — Kip Franklin has been right in the middle of it directing recovery efforts for the past 15 years.
And for those efforts, Franklin made history earlier this month as he was named the first ever Dick Gremillion Emergency Manager of the Year Award winner during the Louisiana Emergency Preparedness Association’s (LEPA) annual conference held at the Golden Nugget Casino in Lake Charles.
Gremillion, who passed away last October, spent 28 years as Calcasieu Parish’s Homeland Security Director, guiding his parish through 25 federally declared disasters, including hurricanes Rita, Ike, Harvey, Laura, and Delta, as well as floods, tornadoes, and wildfires.
The award honors an individual who has demonstrated innovation in the field of emergency management. It recognizes a professional who has gone above and beyond their job description, significantly advancing emergency management in any phase of the disaster cycle — preparedness, mitigation, response, or recovery.
Open to all emergency management professionals, including OEP Directors or staff, local emergency managers, and private industry representatives are open to the award. Recipients, nominated by their peers in the field, exemplify excellence in emergency management through outstanding service, collaboration, and contributions that have had a lasting impact on their community and the profession.
A press release by LEPA said that Franklin’s leadership, innovation, and dedication have significantly advanced emergency management across all disaster phases—preparedness, mitigation, response, and recovery.
“Kip’s exceptional collaboration and commitment have left a lasting impact on both his community and the broader emergency management profession, making him a deserving recipient of this prestigious award,” that release said. “His outstanding contributions continue to inspire and strengthen the field of emergency management. tireless commitment to improving emergency management capabilities has left a lasting impact, advancing both Lincoln Parish and Region 8’s overall disaster response, recovery, and resilience.”
Franklin, who served for the Ruston Fire Department for 31 years before retiring and taking over as Lincoln Parish’s Homeland Security Director, admitted to being touched by the honor.
“It’s really an honor to be the first ever winner,” Franklin said. “And to have known Dick like I did, it meant a lot.”
Franklin said the first big challenge he faced as the parish’s Homeland Security Director was the 2016 deluge that poured more than two feet of rainfall across north Louisiana between May 8-11.
“That was the first time we ever activated this Emergency Activation Center at this location (the Lincoln Parish Sheriff’s Complex,” Franklin said. “We moved out here in 2014. That was the biggest flood in Lincoln Parish history to my knowledge.
“Then we had two back-to-back tornadoes in 2018 and the big one in 2019. Then we had COVID, Hurricane Laura and Tropical Storm Delta all within 2020. Then two months into 2021, we had the biggest winter storm that I know we’ve ever had. … We’ve seen quite a bit of stuff. It’s been a good experience, and we’ve benefited from some of this. The hazard mitigation dollars from the 2016 flood, if we hadn’t turned that around to get generators, there would have been a lot more power outages and a lot more water wells down and stuff like that.”
Despite facing multiple disaster events, the 2019 tornado that roared across Ruston, killing two people and damaging or destroying around 350 homes and businesses in its path, has been his biggest challenge as Homeland Security Director.
“I think the tornado was absolutely the biggest one we’ve ever had,” Franklin said. “All of our agencies were working together in the Emergency Operations Center, and we had good support from all over. Overall, that’s been the biggest (disaster) that we managed.”
Franklin has also overseen recovery from three major train derailments,
“Those are always a major concern,” Franklin said. “Especially in real-populated areas. We’ve been fortunate that we’ve always had them in less populated areas except for this last one because it was close to Simsboro and that worried us a lot.
“That was the only one that we’ve ever known what caused the derailment — it was a switch malfunction of some sort and the delay in reporting it. It happened at 6:30 that morning and there was a 50-minute delay in calling 911, and an off-duty firefighter did that (while) going home from work.”
Franklin said the only real leak he’s faced in the four train derailments he’s worked on (the first was as a member of the RFD) didn’t turn out to be dangerous.
“The only leaks we’ve ever had I know of was the 2011 we had when corn syrup got spilled,” Franklin said. “Then in 2023, in that one there was a car that had powered aluminum and when they picked it up to load it, the (powered aluminum) went pouring out on the ground. We had to get bags down there to clean it all up.”
Despite at times dealing with stressful situations, Franklin said he’s enjoyed his job as Lincoln Parish Homeland Security Director.
“I’ve enjoyed it,” Franklin said. “It’s nice to win awards and I’m proud of being able to represent the parish.”
