Umpire VFD receives FireWise grant funds following completion of community risk assessments. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Umpire volunteer fire department. Umpire VFD is quickly becoming one of Arkansas’s many FireWise communities. This designation only helps Arkansas since the state leads the nation in FireWise.
The AFC FireWise program is a wildfire-safety initiative that works through fire departments to educate and protect Arkansas communities from wildfires. Arkansas FireWise encourages local solutions for wildfire safety by involving homeowners, community leaders, planners, developers, firefighters, and others in creating fire-adapted communities – places where people and property are safer from the risk of brush, grass, and forest fires.
The advantages of becoming a FireWise Community are many. The Arkansas FireWise program is designed to help educate fire departments and communities about wildfire risk, to train firefighters to better recognize wildfire threats and high-risk homes, and to guide fire department planning for improved wildfire-safety through mitigation projects and education events.
In Arkansas, many homes are built in the wildland/urban interface (communities with both homes and natural areas in close proximity to one another), which makes them at a higher risk for wildfire damage. The Arkansas FireWise program outlines specific strategies for improving the defensible space (area 30-300 feet surrounding a home between the structure and surrounding forested area) around homes – through fire department efforts – to improve community-wide wildfire danger.
If your community or fire department is interested in become a FireWise community then please contact your local Arkansas Forestry Commission office. Also, through the AFC, two full-time Arkansas FireWise personnel are available to assist with all the steps of completing recognition as a FireWise community.
Travis Haile-FireWise Coordinator 501-580-9607
Sheila Doughty 501-603-3545
The mission of the AFC is to protect Arkansas’s forests, and those who enjoy them, from wildland fire and natural hazards while promoting rural and urban forest health, stewardship, development, and conservation for all generations of Arkansans.
