Gravette Fire Department gives out annual awards
GRAVETTE — The Gravette Fire Department held its annual Christmas dinner and awards ceremony at Station 1 in Gravette on Saturday, Dec. 28.
Food was provided by the Gravette Fire Department Women’s Auxiliary, and ribs and pulled pork were provided by BMS Auto of Gravette.
Several retired firefighters were invited and attended the event.
“This event gives us an opportunity to review our accomplishments during the year and show appreciation for all the hard work and training completed by the firefighters,” said Gravette Fire Chief David Orr.
Lt. Josh Blocker received an award for responding to the most calls in 2019. Lt. Blocker responded to 239 calls to service, followed by Capt. David Winter, who responded to 217 calls to service.
Capt. Jared Weston presented Lt. Blocker his award and noted, “Lt. Blocker’s response during the year was above and beyond the expectations we have for volunteer response.”
Firefighter Dee Walker was presented an award for logging the most training hours in 2019. Walker completed 169.3 hours of training, followed by Firefighter Ryan Sutherland who completed 151 hours of training.
Walker was presented his award by Lt. Brad Harris, who stated, “Firefighter Walker has worked hard this year to better himself to serve the community.”
The Gravette Fire Department worked diligently all year to increase training hours for all personnel. In 2019 the department as a whole completed 4,111 hours of training.
The top five volunteers who responded to the most calls for the department in 2019 were Lt. Josh Blocker, Capt. David Winter, Firefighter Ryan Sutherland, Lt. Bob Bohannon and Firefighter Dee Walker. As a symbol of appreciation, they all received medical first responder bags from the Arkansas Department of Health.
All department members are dually trained to respond to both fires and medical emergencies and all fire department personnel are currently certified at a minimum as Emergency Medical Responders.
The Gravette Fire Department has a fire district that covers 53 square miles of both city and county response area and is staffed by career and volunteer firefighters. In 2018, the department responded to more than 1,000 fire and medical calls.
Anyone interested in serving the community as a volunteer firefighter for the Gravette Fire Department is encouraged to contact the fire station at 479-787-6600 for more information.