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April 8, 2009

Rural fire departments receive computers

John Walker

DUNCAN — With nothing but their time and the sweat of their brows, rural volunteer firefighters perform a needed job for those who live outside the municipal communities.

Recently, two of Stephens County’s volunteer fire departments received a gift at the monthly meeting of the departments that will help them better perform their services to the people.

Through an ongoing donation program from Chesapeake Energy, both Velma’s and Meridian’s volunteer departments now have two new desktop computers that they can use on a daily basis.

State Fire Marshal Robert Doke said that Chesapeake donates to the Oklahoma State Fire Marshal’s office computers to be given to departments that need it.

Doke then contacts respective areas before delivering them to ascertain which departments may need the computers the most.

For Stephens County, there were five rural fire departments that did not file their monthly reports electronically. They use paper instead.

Only two computers were available, however, so only two departments could be chosen in Stephens County.

“But they can share with the other departments around them,” Doke said. “Those computers are better than what’s on my desk.”

The computers even include software to train firefighters.

Rep. Dennis Johnson and Sen. Anthony Sykes were on hand to present the fire departments with the computers.

“These rural volunteer firefighters put in so much time, training and even their own money that it is nice to see them get something so useful and deserving,” Johnson said. “They perform such a valuable service to the rural communities.”

Johnson said that rural homeowners see many benefits from having a rural fire department, including a decrease in their insurance with a rural fire department nearby, not to mention someone to save them in a fire emergency.

Meridian Volunteer Fire Chief Ben Cheek said that the gift is much appreciated.

“It was a totally unexpected phone call,” Cheek said. “It’s not often someone calls you up and says you’re getting a computer. I think we will use it a lot.”

Cheek was also grateful for the other fire departments in the area as well as for the county’s support of rural fire departments.

Stephens County donated money to the fire departments this year that was much appreciated, Cheek said.

Velma Volunteer Fire Chief David Bloodworth agreed.

“We greatly appreciate this gift,” Bloodworth said. “We need them. They will help out a lot on our monthly reports so we don’t have to chase someone down.”

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