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It’s here |
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Monday, 01 June 2009 |
Firefighters, their families and more came out Saturday morning to welcome a 6,000-pound, 12foot, five-figure bronze statue that will temporarily adorn Benton Municipal Complex until it’s permanently placed at the state Capitol.
Nineteen fire trucks from various Saline County fire departments lined up at the county line on Arkansas 5 to escort the traveling fallen firefighters’ memorial. Members of the Dixie Car Club also joined the escort, along with local law enforcement officers. In total, 41 vehicles were a part of the caravan that ended at city hall on East Street.
At Arkansas 5 and Reynolds Road in Bryant, the Bryant Fire Department had their ladder truck up over a U.S. flag. Led by Fire Chief Randy Cox, Bryant firefighters stood in salute when the flat-bed truck with the memorial on it drove by.
Children and their parents and grandparents took up spots in nearby lawns to watch the parade of red trucks. Nicholas Anderson, 5, of the Salem community sat ready with a small flag to give tribute to the day’s purpose.
“It’s about ongoing education and giving support to families and fire departments who have lost a firefighter in the line of duty,” widow Sonya Richter said. Richter is from Pottsville. Her husband, Brian Richter, died in April 2001 while on duty for the Pottsville Volunteer Fire Department.
“This is about honoring all fallen firefighters,” she said. “It also helps education people about fire prevention. Sadly, there will be more fallen firefighters, but we can do things like this to help prevent them.”
Richter is part of the state’s response team that responds to situations in which a firefighter has died. They help with everything from funeral arrangements to giving support to families. “The after part, is the hardest part,” she said.
Seeing the memorial “is always emotional,” Richter said standing by her children, Natalie, 16, and Nicholas, 11.
A key player in getting the memorial in Benton is Benton Fire Chief Ben Blankenship, who also is in charge of the response team to which Richter belongs.
“I met the chief when he was trying to find a widow,” Richter said. “Whenever there is a line-of-duty death, he is in charge. He’s wonderful and is a great leader.”
Blankenship said, “We’re very pleased to have this here.”
Dealing first hand with those killed in the line of duty and their families, the memorial has special meaning for Blankenship.
The chief also belongs to the national fallen firefighters’ organization, which is headquartered in Maryland.
The memorial, which is made possible through donations collected by the Arkansas Fallen Firefighters’ organization, will be on display in Benton until Saturday, June 20. It will then be escorted to Hot Springs, Blankenship said.
The memorial depicts three firemen: a modern firefighter, an “old-timer” firefighter and an Arkansas Forestry firefighter. It also depicts a woman firefighter giving CPR to a small child. The woman was modeled after Rachel Nix, a lifelong firefighter and the director of the Arkansas Fire Academy.
As of May 30, $297,000 funding is still needed for the project, according to the organization’s Web site, www.arfallenfighters.org. The traveling memorial is just the center portion of the entire memorial planned for the state Capitol. The plan is to have pavers around the statue with names of fallen firefighters, in addition to an amphitheater for reflection. Johnny Reep, a retired Little Rock Fire Department captain, is chairman of the memorial campaign.
“We have to remember that the men and women of Arkansas who have died in the line of duty did so protecting the citizens they didn’t know, and they have left behind families,” Reep said. “There’s a tremendous legacy that has to be honored, reserved and re-taught to others.”
One fundraiser that took place Saturday included hundreds of motorcyclists making a “poker run” in Benton.
A great thing about this memorial and the funds it raises, Benton Advertising and Promotion Commission director Jill Jones said, is that it also helps support the families left behind when a family member loses his or her life in a fire.
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Razorbacks
