WHITE RIVER TOWNSHIP FIRE DEPARTMENT ARCHIVE FILE

July 27, 2006

Department receives state-wide award

The White River Township Fire Department received the state's top honor for its Fire Prevention Bureau on Tuesday night. The Division, headed by Fire Marshal Eric Brown, received the Fire Prevention Bureau of the Year award during a ceremony held at the Aztrar Casino Conference Center in Evansville Indiana. The Annual Awards Banquet for the Indiana Association of Building Officials and the Indiana Fire Inspectors Association was attended by over 250 fire and building officials from all over the state of Indiana.

The award is given out to an Indiana fire department with a Fire Prevention Bureau that has exceeded expectations of the community and has gone above and beyond in its offering of fire prevention programs. Kent Stouder, President of the Indiana Fire Inspectors Association, stated that the number of fire prevention activities completed each year exceeds that of many much larger departments throughout the state. It is this distinction among several that earned White River the award. In addition to annual inspections and pre-fire plans of over 500 commercial occupancies throughout the district, the division also provides multiple fire-prevention programs such as Learn not to Burn, education and safety seminars, school and daycare visits, weather safety programs, and juvenile fire setter interventions, to name a few.

After receiving the award, Chief Brown gave a short speech commending the efforts of members of his division, especially deputy marshals Kevin Skipper and Steve Coover, who work tirelessly for the success of the program. "These two are very dedicated to what they do", said Chief Brown eluding to the pair's work ethic. "Much of the success of the program can be directly attributed to what these two do on a daily basis", he added.

Stouder stated that there were more nominations for the awards this year than in years past, making it difficult to choose one bureau over another. The award winners are chosen from the nominations of hundreds of fire departments within Indiana's 92 counties. The night's other big award, Fire Inspector of the Year, went to Howard Buchanon from the South Bend Fire Department.

Indiana State Fire Marshal Roger Johnson was also on hand and delivered a speech commending the cooperation between the Indiana Association of Building Officials and the Indiana Fire Inspectors Association. He also congratulated each of this year's winners in the event's ten-year history.

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