Fire Safety Awareness Parade and Kidsfest Safety Fair a Huge Success!

From the press release submitted to the media:

Forty fire trucks and emergency vehicles from Johnson and Logan counties participated in the Fourth Annual Fire Safety Awareness Parade held in Clarksville. The parade, held on October 7th, kicked off the National Fire Protection Association’s Fire Prevention Week, October 8-14. Parade Marshals for this year’s parade are were Congressman John Boozman, State Senator Randy Laverty and State Representative George Overbey. The three were chosen by Johnson County Fire Chiefs as parade marshals for their support of the fire service in Johnson County.

Kidsfest Safety Fair followed the parade and was held at the Marvin Vinson Center in which 11 fire departments and 17 other agencies participated in the event. New to the event was the display by Clarksville Light and Water, Sparkles’ Spot sponsored by the Johnson County RFD #1 Fire Corps members, Stranger Danger by Inferno Martial Arts, Internet Safety by the Clarksville High School East Lab, Hunter Education by the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission , Basic First Aid Tips by the Girl Scout Peachtree Service Unit, Outdoor Fire Safety by the Lamar Girl Scouts and the Teddy Bear Clinic, in which over 150 children brought in their teddy bears for a checkup. Project Kid Print ID’d 340 children at the event.

According to Dayna Hilton, Johnson County Fire Prevention Week Coordinator, both events were a success and the attendance doubled over last year’s events. To view photos of the day’s highlights, visit http://www.rfd1.com/ and click on the “photo” link. For more information on these events, please Contact Dayna Hilton at 479-754-8652 or daynark@gmail.com

PBS KIDS Sprout Safety Tips Now On-line

The PBS KIDS Sprout Safety Tips that RFD #1 Public Fire and Life Safety Educator, Dayna Hilton, along with Sparkles and Spanner helped with, are now online! Join Sparkles, Spanner and Firefighter Dayna for some important fire safety tips to help keep you safe! http://www.sproutletsgrow.com/firesafety/video.php

Fire Safety Billboard Contest Winner Announced

Release Date: October 4, 2006

Winner of the Fourth Annual Fire Safety Billboard Contest is Kimaly Tarter of Clarksville. Kimaly is a 6th grader in Ms. Melson’s class at Kraus Middle School. The contest was open to Johnson County students and over 1000 entries were received. The winning drawing will be featured on a billboard on west Highway 64 during the month of October and on the cover of the 2007 Fire Safety Calendar.

The contest was sponsored by Johnson County RFD #1, the Department of Homeland Security, Johnson County RFD #1 Fire Corps (University of the Ozarks Phi Beta Lambda and Students in Free Enterprise organizations) and First Security Bank of Clarksville.

FOX and Friends

RFD #1 Public Fire and Life Safety Educator, Dayna Hilton, RFD #1 Fire Corps member, Kari Woods, Sparkles and Spanner were live on FOX and Friends September 24th in New York City.

Hilton shared fire safety tips and Sparkles demonstrated how to "Get low and go". The show was seen by over 3 million viewers.

To see pictures, visit: http://good-times.webshots.com/album/554493058SNRihn

RFD #1 Public Educator and Fire Corps Member Participate in Congressional Briefing

Press Release from the National Volunteer Fire Council:

Johnson County RFD #1 Public Fire and Life Safety Educator and Fire Corps member Participate in Fire Corps Congressional Briefing

The Congressional Fire Services Institute (CFSI), in cooperation with Fire Corps and Citizen Corps, hosted a briefing about the Fire Corps program on Monday, September 25. Attendees included congressional staff members as well as Representative John Boozman (R-AR). Sarah Lee, Director of Fire Corps, Lori Moon, Fire Corps Program Coordinator, and Karen Marsh, Director of Citizen Corps, conducted the briefing.

Lee and Moon began the briefing by showing one of the new Fire Corps promotional videos and then providing the audience with an introduction to Fire Corps. Dayna Hilton, the coordinator of the Johnson County RFD #1 Fire Corps in Clarksville, Arkansas, was invited to discuss the impact her department’s successful Fire Corps program has had on her community. “Fire Corps has truly made our fire safety program more successful,” Hilton said. “We would not have been able to reach as many people with fire safety messages without Fire Corps.”

Kari Wood, a member of the Johnson County RFD #1 Fire Corps that includes University of the Ozarks Phi Beta Lambda and Students in Free Enterprise members, spoke about her personal experience with Fire Corps, including participating in an initiative where she reads to first and second graders to impart fire safety messages. “I know that I am making a difference,” Wood said. She later noted, “Knowing that I am able to have that impact is amazing and incredible and Fire Corps made that possible.”

Representative Boozman, who has actively supported Fire Corps and whose district includes Johnson County, praised the program and encouraged other congressional offices to support Fire Corps. “It’s such a great program and it is certainly something our office is committed to supporting,” he said, adding, “We are so proud of our Clarksville group which has done such a great job.”

Marsh concluded the briefing with an overview of how Fire Corps fits into the broader umbrella of Citizen Corps. She stressed the need for citizen preparedness and participation, as well as the importance of citizens, first responders, and government working together in community planning.

CFSI’s congressional briefings are informal roundtable discussions which allow congressional staff to learn more about the legislative priorities of the fire and emergency services and how their Senator or Representative can become more involved in public safety initiatives both on Capitol Hill and in their congressional districts. Past topics of discussion include the role of first responders in the Department of Homeland Security, proposed changes to the Public Safety Officers’ Benefits Program, the reorganization of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and wildland/urban interface fires.

To see pictures, visit http://good-times.webshots.com/album/554492496fWYylk

RFD #1 Public Educator Participates in PBS KIDS Sprout Project

Press Release from the National Volunteer Fire Council:

Johnson County RFD #1 Educator, Dayna Hilton, will be sharing fire safety tips on PBS KIDS Sprout during Fire Prevention Week in October. Hilton will appear in several 1 ?-minute segments to air in conjunction with the launch of the new Sprout series Fireman Sam.

Fireman Sam is designed to communicate valuable lessons for children regarding fire safety and social responsibilities for the community. It will air weekend mornings on PBS KIDS Sprout at 8:30 a.m. ET. As part of the launch for the program, Sprout will air Hilton’s “Fire Safety Tips” segments four times a day during Fire Prevention Week (October 8-14) and continuing through the launch of Fireman Sam on October 14 and 15. The segments will feature several important fire safety messages for preschool age children, and Hilton will also talk about fire equipment and the firefighting profession.

Hilton manages the department’s successful Fire Corps program. The efforts of Hilton, RFD #1’s firefighters, and the Fire Corps team, comprised of University of the Ozarks Phi Beta Lambda and Students in Free Enterprise members, resulted in a 34% decrease in fire-related residential property losses in the department’s district between 2004 and 2005. Hilton was also the recipient of the National Volunteer Fire Council’s (NVFC) 2006 Fire Prevention Award. The award, sponsored by First Alert, is given annually to a volunteer firefighter who exemplifies the philosophy of fire prevention through their contributions to the field.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to share fire safety messages with so many children and their caregivers,” said Hilton. “According to the U.S. Fire Administration, the very young (those under 5) have a much greater risk of death than other children. In fact, that age group accounts for 12% of fire related deaths – the highest proportion for any age group. Thanks to the good folks at the NVFC and everyone at PBS KIDS Sprout, who have worked tirelessly to have the most up-to-date fire safety messages in their programming, the project has the potential of helping change these unfortunate statistics."

The Fire Corps program is involved in many initiatives that promote fire safety. Fire Corps, which is administered on a national level by the NVFC, is a federally-funded, locally-driven effort under Citizen Corps that encourages community members to offer their time and talents to their local fire/EMS departments in a non-emergency capacity, enabling the department personnel to focus their efforts on providing emergency services. Fire Corps allows departments to provide additional services they may not otherwise be able to offer, including fire safety training in the community. Fire Corps and the NVFC are both members of the National Preparedness Month Coalition and supporters of Fire Prevention Week. Learn more about Fire Corps at http://www.firecorps.org/ and the NVFC at http://www.nvfc.org/.

“It is very important to teach children fire safety at an early age, and I applaud PBS KIDS Sprout for their efforts,” said Philip C. Stittleburg, Chairman of the NVFC. “Dayna is the perfect choice to deliver the Fire Safety Tips segments. Her dedication to fire safety, along with her enthusiasm and knowledge, make her ideal for this project.”

PBS KIDS SproutSM, the first and only 24-hour preschool destination available on TV, on demand and online for kids ages 2-5 and their parents and caregivers, was created as a partnership among Comcast Corporation, the country’s leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications products and services; HIT Entertainment, a leading provider of quality entertainment for young children; PBS (Public Broadcasting Service), the most trusted distributor of award-winning children’s programming; and Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization behind Sesame Street.

Since debuting its video on demand (VOD) service in April 2005, PBS KIDS Sprout has become the #1 Kids On Demand service, generating over 100 million orders since launch. The 24-hour digital channel, which launched in September 2005 along with the website (http://www.sproutletsgrow.com/), is available on digital cable and satellite to almost 20 million committed subscribers. The network’s program lineup of gold-standard, curriculum-based children’s shows includes: Sesame Street®, Bob the Builder™, Barney & Friends™, Thomas & Friends™, Angelina Ballerina™, Sagwa: The Chinese Siamese Cat™, Caillou™, The Berenstain Bears™, Jay Jay the Jet Plane™, Teletubbies™, Dragon Tales™, Pingu™, Make Way For Noddy™ and more.

To see photos from the project, visit http://travel.webshots.com/album/554489054hXXuXe

New Photos Posted

http://community.webshots.com/user/johnsoncountyrfd1