The July 2004 Arkansas FireWise Home of the Month belongs to Thomas and Sherry Whitaker of Des Arc.

Mr. and Mrs. Whitaker took a raw piece of timbered land eight years ago and have worked to establish a Firewise home. The home has a fire-resistant roof and is partially sided with brick. It is surrounded by a great defensible space with well-spaced trees and shrubbery. Additional Firewise features are the nearby supplemental water source and two ways in and out.

Note the nice Sawtooth Oaks they purchased from the Arkansas Forestry Commission. One of them produced three gallons of acorns last year. They have also planted several rows along the west property line as a future wind break and shade in the afternoon.

A rural community, Des Arc is one of the oldest river ports in Arkansas. Located on the White River, Des Arc's earliest recorded settler was Francie Francure. Francure, a Frenchman, was given a land grant by the Spanish for land near the mouth of the Little Red River, which he claimed to have settled in 1789. Francure's settlement pre-dated the arrival of the first U.S. citizens by more than 20 years.

First incorporated in 1854, today Des Arc is home to about 2,000 people, many of whom are involved daily in the area's leading industry — farming. Area farmers still grow rice, soybeans, cotton and winter wheat.