A recently retired deputy fire chief was killed in a Saturday night motorcycle wreck in Whitfield County.

Gary Baggett retired Feb. 6 after 30 years with the Dalton Fire Departent, according to Dalton police spokesman Bruce Frazier.

Frazier said Baggett was riding a motorcycle southbound on Cleveland Highway around 7:15 p.m. Saturday when a northbound Toyota Tundra pickup truck turned left in front of him.

Baggett’s motorcycle struck the truck, Frazier said. He was taken to Hamilton Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead shortly after 8 p.m.

Baggett was named deputy chief of the department in 2009. Before joining the department in 1985, he served four years in the Air Force, where he was also a firefighter.

The fatal accident is being investigated by the Georgia State Patrol.

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