Cairo

Certified Firewise Community/USA

Cairo became a Certified Firewise Community/USA on Oct. 18, 2006. A luncheon and recognition ceremony was held Dec. 14, 2006 in the Garden View Room of the Clinton Presidential Library. Accepting a plaque and highway signs on behalf of the community was Tom Galbraith, fire chief. Also pictured at right 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.

Cairo is a small town in Union County, located east of El Dorado along Highway 82. On May 18, 2006, a FireWise meeting was held with members of the Cairo Fire Department. Those attending were Tom Galbraith, John Warren, Robert Murphy, Ralph Flemens, Lynn Hibbs, Ron Bickle, Britt Galbraith, John Darden and L.W. Biggs.

"A special thanks to Chris Ludwig for setting up the meeting and making an effort to attend after fighting a fire in Columbia County for four hours prior to the meeting," David Samuel, Arkansas FireWise Coordinator, said.

For their first Firewise Day, the Cairo FireWise board hosted an educational day during which residents could view their home's wildfire hazard risk rating and receive information on how to reduce their wildland fire risk.