Kelly began his fire career in 1995 as volunteer firefighter with the Walls, MS fire department. In 2000, he became a full-time firefighter for the Horn Lake, MS fire department where he promoted to Driver/Operator and then to Lieutenant/Field Training Officer. His duties as Lieutenant included curriculum development, job performance reviews (JPR) management, and SOP/SOG development, as well as leadership of the company’s swift water rescue team. In 2005, he joined Southaven, MS fire department as a firefighter/field training officer, assisting in curriculum development and in-field training.
Kelly served as an Adjunct Instructor for the Mississippi State Fire academy from 2003-2006, delivering onsite and field training. He worked as a hazmat contractor in 2002, providing hazmat remediation and cleanup for various disasters, including Hurricane Ivan and the BP oil spill.
In 2013, Kelly joined the Team SERTC as an Instructor for flammable liquids. In 2015, he was promoted to Lead Instructor over the flammable liquids program, which includes Crude by Rail (CBR) and Transportation Container Loading and Unloading Emergency Response (TCLUER) curricula.
Kelly holds a number of fire, rescue, and hazmat certifications and brings years of invaluable experience to the SERTC organization.