Causey to honor first responder, present grant checks Monday

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey on Monday will honor a Davie County first responder who recently retired after providing 32 years of service to his community.

Commissioner Causey, who is also the State Fire Marshal, will also deliver more than $463,000 in grant checks to fire departments in Davidson, Davie and Rowan counties during the day.

Andy Lipscomb will receive the Commissioner’s Award Monday afternoon. At the age of 12, Lipscomb began volunteering with the Smith Grove Volunteer Fire Department. He worked his way through various ranks as a junior firefighter and later continued with the fire department, eventually becoming assistant chief.

In 1989, Lipscomb began his career as a paramedic with Davie County, ending up as chief of operations for the Davie County Emergency Service. For 17 years, he oversaw the day-to-day activities of the EMS crews. He led four swift-water deployments and was involved in countless saves on the East Coast. In 2019, he transferred to the Davie County Fire Marshal’s office, working on countless investigations, including six arson cases in the county.

During Monday’s trip, Commissioner Causey will distribute ceremonial checks totaling $88,368.35 to six Davidson County fire departments, $135,305 to eight Davie County fire departments and $240,221.86 to 13 Rowan County fire departments.

The checks are part of a matching grant program providing more than $9.8 million to 554 volunteer fire departments across the state.

Here is Commissioner Causey’s public schedule for Monday afternoon: