MARCH WILDFIRES: Insurance company rewards area firefighters

May 25--The Washington County and Ramona Fire Departments were among the agencies rewarded by AFR Insurance for helping to fight early March wildfires in northwest Oklahoma. AFR Insurance presented $1,500 checks to each department involved on May 20.

The money was presented during an invitation-only luncheon at the Woodward County Fairgrounds. The Oklahoma Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry provided AFR with a list of 140 fire departments that were involved in the fire.

"Words cannot express the appreciation AFR Insurance has for fire departments' efforts in protecting lives and property during the tragic March wildfires," Justin Cowan, CEO, AFR Insurance, said.

The event was called "Funds for Fire Fighters -- AFR Answers the Call."

"We wanted to honor the dedication and sacrifices made by these courageous fire fighters, many of whom had to leave their own property while fighting to protect their neighbor's property," Terry Detrick, AFR president, said.

It is anticipated the fire departments will use the money to defray costs associated with fighting the fires. "We know some equipment was damaged in the process of fighting these fires," Detrick said

Washington County Fire Chief Kary Cox said the county task force which was comprised of Washington County and Ramona were who responded to the assistance call in Woodward.

"Our task force was Washington County and Ramona and we spent about 24 hours on scene," he said.

Cox spent about a week at the scene working with the event's command structure.

"We really appreciate this. It will help our departments out," he said.

___

(c)2017 the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise (Bartlesville, Okla.)

Visit the Bartlesville Examiner-Enterprise (Bartlesville, Okla.) at www.examiner-enterprise.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.