Perfect Example of What Makes Arkansas Great

Perfect Example of What Makes Arkansas Great

As your representative in Washington, I spend a great deal of time around people who are unfamiliar with life in Arkansas. As I go down the list of what makes our state great, the unity and spirit of Arkansas' communities is one of the things I take the most pride in talking about. That community spirit is embodied in a number of ways, but one of the most visible is how many Arkansans give back to their communities by volunteering their time and talent.

Last week, two Arkansans were recognized in Washington for their volunteer work with the Johnson County Rural Fire District #1 Fire Corps program. Dayna Hilton and Lori Moon came to our nation's capitol to make a presentation on engaging community support through fire corps, a program that allows community members to give back by offering their time and talents to their local fire/emergency management service departments in a non-operational or non-emergency capacity.

Dayna and Lori were selected because they have helped make the Johnson County RFD #1 Fire Corps program one of the best, most-admired Fire Corps programs in the nation. It was one of the first in the nation to bring together fire fighters, emergency services and university students with the goal of reducing the number of deaths caused by fire.

In recent years, Arkansas has ranked at or near the top of the national listings of states with the most deaths due to fire. Dayna recently told Dispatch, the quarterly newsletter of the National Volunteer Fire Council, that they are trying to "break that cycle by promoting prevention through education."

To accomplish this goal, Johnson County RFD #1 partnered with the University of the Ozarks to train sixty students to teach fire safety to children and adults. The students, who are all members of the University's chapter of Phi Beta Lambda, make-up the department's Fire Corp program and they spread their message of fire prevention to the community through fire safety presentations at local elementary schools, community events and other forums, including presentations for their peers at the University. The group has been credited with bringing about a 34% decrease in residential fire-related property loss between 2004 and 2005.

Which brings us to Dayna and Lori's recent trip to Washington. They were in town to make a presentation at the Congressional Fire Service Institute's workshop. I was able to attend and can say that those on-hand for this educational session were able to take home valuable information from Dayna and Lori. They, the department's firefighters, and the rest of the individuals involved in the Johnson County RFD #1 Fire Corps program, truly are an example of best practices for how to educate your community on fire safety. They also are an excellent example of how community members can use their time and talent to help each other out. Most of all, their selfless dedication to their community is a perfect example of what makes Arkansas such a wonderful place to call home.

http://www.boozman.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=42214