Calion

Recognized Firewise Community/USA

The Calion Firewise board was organized on Jan. 26, 2006, and the town became an officially recognized Firewise Community/USA on Aug. 24, 2006. A luncheon and recognition ceremony was held Dec. 14, 2006, in the Garden View Room of the Clinton Presidential Library. Accepting the plaque and highway signs on behalf of the community were Karen Evans, Calion Mayor, and Roy Dison, Calion Fire Chief. Also pictured are John Shannon, State Forester; Chris Ludwig, Union County Ranger; Glen Fortenberry, Fire Team Leader, Ouachita & Ozark-St. Francis National Forests; Michele Steinberg, Firewise Communities Support Manager, and Don McBride, Assistant State Forester-Protection.

The Union County town has 516 residents, a lumber mill, a historical marker about Hernando DeSoto's visit in 1541, and Lake Calion.

Attending the first Arkansas FireWise Communities meeting were Calion Mayor Karen Evans, Calion Fire Chief Roy Dison, Assistant Fire Chief Danny Donahoe, Calion VFD Training Officer Todd Parker, Calion VFD Engineer Neal Johnson, Harrell Mayor Odell Nash, and Arkansas Forestry Commission Union County Ranger Chris Ludwig.

For their first Firewise project, fourteen volunteers gathered at a home on North Hoover Street to clear away brush and overhanging limbs. Their efforts provided easier access for fire equipment in the area.