Resident News Network

SR Tigers Fall In Hard Fought War Against Warriors

Sports

-

7:53 am

SR Tigers Fall In Hard Fought War Against Warriors

Aggression and competitiveness are always front and center when watching high school boy’s sports. The Mansfield Tigers have faced adversity in the 3A-4 this season but have not left an ounce of effort on the floor at the end of every game. Blood and sweat have been left on the floor, but not effort. So, when Mansfield hosted Lamar on Tuesday, February 4th, the same effort was expected by the Tigers’ hometown crowd. The effort was there. The competitiveness was there. The aggression was definitely there. The win on the other hand would have to wait for another day as Mansfield suffered another tough loss in 3A-4 play falling to Lamar 81-64.

It didn’t take long for Lamar to jump all over the Tigers as the Warriors won the jump ball, sank a three-pointer, and followed everything up with a breakaway layup to take an early 5-0 lead over Mansfield. Samuel Burton stepped up for the Tigers to end Lamar’s scoring streak with a powerful board bucket to put Mansfield on the scoreboard and make it a one possession 5-3 game. Burton’s bucket didn’t seem to faze the Warriors, though, as they again ran rampant on the court with all-star moves to score another five unanswered points on the Tigers. With Lamar scoring in quick bursts, the Tigers stomped on the brakes to counter the Warrior’s momentum. The plan worked seemingly perfect too as Mansfield passed the ball around to try and set up perfect shots. Perfect shots are in Daniel Burton’s DNA. Burton drained back-to-back three-point shots to get the Tigers within two points of Lamar. Samuel Burton then tied the game up after getting fouled on a layup and adding the plus one, setting the game at 10-10. The tie lasted only a couple of seconds as Lamar hit a three-point shot on the other end of the court and then caught a fast break steal that ended in a Warriors slam dunk. This game was getting hot and so were the attitudes as players on both teams began to get a little bit chippy as the opening quarter was winding down. Cooler heads prevailed though, and the Tigers closed the score to a 17-16 Lamar lead with a pair of hotshot threes by Winston Allison and Samuel Burton with just 2:21 left on the clock. Mansfield took their first lead of the game off another three-point swish, but Lamar regained the lead on the scoreboard to end the first quarter with a narrow 21-20 lead over the Tigers.

Larmar struck first in the second quarter with a layup and a pair of free throws to extend the score to 25-20 in the Warrior’s favor. Winston Allison answered with a short shot from inside the box which was enough to make Lamar call an early timeout at 6:46 in the second quarter. The time-out gave the Tigers time to cool down but only allowed Lamar to heat up as the Warriors hit a three-pointer right after coming back onto the floor. But facing the heat isn’t anything new for Mansfield as Daniel Burton showed his poise under pressure and sank a three of his own to set the score at 30-25. Andrew Burton then brought down the house with an extremely contested power bucket to bring the Tigers within three points of the lead. With their lead cut to 30-27, Lamar began to scramble which stirred up errors for the Warriors in the form of fouls. With Lamar holding their aggressiveness, Daniel Burton cranked his up to 10 and took a steal the length of the court to tie things up at 30-30. Lamar quickly regained the lead with a layup as the back-and-forth basketball bantering continued. Winston Allison sent the home crowd into a frenzy when he swished a three-pointer to give Mansfield their first lead of the night putting the Tigers ahead of Lamar with a 33-32 score. The Warriors weren’t done yet either though as Lamar blazed back with four unanswered points to again regain the lead, 36-33, with 1:41 left in the half. Lamar began to hit another hot streak as the second quarter winded down. Andrew Burton plowed his way through traffic for a board bucket to break the Warrior run, but Lamar was just too skilled to stop. The first half wasn’t a battle, not even close. This was a downright war down to the buzzer with Lamar leading Mansfield 44-35 going into the half.

The third quarter started off with, well, not a bang as both teams shot and missed by a mile from beyond the arch. The slow start didn’t last very long though as Lamar was able to put up a duce, but Samuel Burton pulled off a spin-a-rooni layup to match the Warrior’s score. The Warriors were able to land a double-digit lead with a free throw setting the score at 47-37 at the 6:03 mark. While their scoring wasn’t as fast-paced as the first half, Lamar was making their shots count as they stretched their lead to 50-37. When the break was over though, it was game on for the Warriors as Lamar rolled in a soft shot. Daniel Burton wasn’t so soft with his shot though as Burton drained a long-range three-pointer. Winston Allison drilled a three-pointer of his own to set the score at 52-44 still in Lamars favor with 3:24 left in the quarter. Allison again showed his skills with a mid-air floating shot. Both teams went back and forth playing a game of “anything you can do I can do better” as the score kept creeping higher and higher. Unfortunately for the Tigers, Lamar never let Mansfield within a ten-point spread during that stretch. That is until Andrew Burton powered his way in for a board bucket to cut Lamars lead to 58-50 with 0:37 left in the quarter. An ally-oop put-back hoop jumped Lamar back into a double-digit lead again as the third quarter ended with Mansfield down 61-50, but still in the game.

Mansfield started the fourth quarter with the ball, but a Lamar player piggybacked off of Samuel Burton’s shoulders on a rebound which stopped the game for Burton to shoot free throws. Burton went one for two to bring the score within 10 points, 61-51. Even though fatigue was setting in on both teams, the players were still putting on quite the show. While both teams were playing their tails off, it was Lamar who was scoring points as the Warriors jumped out to a 68-51 lead forcing Mansfield to call a timeout and regroup at the 6:31 mark of the final quarter. Que Daniel Burton. Burton saw a three written on the wall and swished his shot. Andrew Burton followed suit with a board bucket to cut the Tiger’s deficit to ten points again, but Lamar kept finding a way to hit their mark on the scoreboard to go up 72-56 on the Tigers. The trend continued as the game went on, but the Lamar Warriors proved to be just too much for Mansfield as the Tigers fell to Lamar with an 81-64 final score.

Three Bulldogs To Further Football Careers

Ross Fujibayashi

-

2:48 am

0

Three Bulldogs To Further Football Careers

National Signing Day is a big day for any high school athlete wanting to make it to the next level. For three Greenwood Bulldogs it is building upon a legacy of those that have come before them. Names like Kris Weible, Tyler Wilson, Drew Morgan, and Hunter Wilkinson, have laid the foundation for Bulldogs to make it to the next level. Cash Archer, Grant Karnes, and Eddy Castelo get to etch their names with the other greats in Bulldog Football history and chart their own paths collegiately.

Cash Archer – University of Central Arkansas

A force on defense that had opposing coaches’ game planning to stop his relentless style of play. From the same mold of former Bulldog defensive monsters Morgan and Jordan Hanna (Arkansas/UNLV), the 6’1.5″ 222lbs older brother of Kane Archer, made his name disrupting offensive backfields. With 39.5 sacks coming out of a 3-year career with 224 tackles there was rarely a play at the line of scrimmage or behind that did not involve the two-time All-State selection. For his work on the field the University of Central Arkansas offered Cash and became the front runner for the 2025 grad. Cash won the Hooten’s Arkansas Football 2024 6A Defensive Player of the Year.

“I’m excited, I’ve always dreamed of playing at the next level.” Cash Archer said. “I took a visit down there and it was way better than I could’ve imagined. The coaching staff was amazing. It feels like a place I could adapt to.”

“With Cash, I don’t know if we’ve had a guy with a motor like him in a long time.” Head Coach Chris Young said. “A dynamic player that rushes the passer unlike anything I have ever seen. Tremendous athlete, you know, UCA is getting a heck of a steal.”

Grant Karnes – University of Arkansas

In a long line of great receivers, Grant Karnes left his legacy on the field for the Bulldogs. The three-sport athlete was originally committed to Wichita State for baseball, where he is a two-time All-State pitcher for the Bulldogs. Early in the summer, Karnes made the decision to re-open his recruiting to Football and within the first couple weeks it paid off when the Razorbacks made an offer. In Grant’s time at Greenwood, 3589 yards on 248 catches for 47 touchdowns puts him behind Josh Bell (55 ’98-’00) and Kris Weible (51 ’94-’96) all-time in the Greenwood school record book for receiving touchdowns in a career. While most teams will have one receiver go over 1000 yards and then some, Grant was able to share 1000 yard seasons with L.J. Robins (NSU) and Champ Davis. This year the Bulldogs were on pace to have three 1000-yard receivers with Karnes, Davis and the late Isaiah Arrington. Grant Karnes won the Hooten’s Arkansas Football 6A Offensive Player of the Year and was a three-time All-State selection.

“It means so much to me. It’s been a dream since I was a little kid to go play at Arkansas. There’s nowhere else I would want to go.” Grant Karnes said. “Finally getting the opportunity, after all the years of hard work. Everyone that has helped me throughout the journey, I mean, I can’t wait for it”

“He played in four consecutive State Championship games. I don’t know anyone has ever done that.” Coach Young said. “Lead the entire state in receiving yards. As good of a football player he is, he’s a better young man. He made our locker room better; he made practices fun. I think he had a huge impact on the younger receivers, which will carry us through for the next few years.”

Eddy Castelo –Henderson State University

Eddy came to Greenwood a year ago from Fort Smith Northside. An offensive lineman for the Grizzlies, Castelo was tabbed to fill one spot at guard as Junior Cody Taylor moved to center. Then the Fayetteville Scrimmage happened. Senior Nose Guard Mark Garretson went down with an injury and it left some question marks on a defense that was already having to replace several starters. Eddy, known for his aggressive run blocking, and relentless work in the weight room was moved over to defense with Junior Akira Fujibayashi to work alongside Junior DeAndre Stephens to find the best fit. Week 0 the pieces fell together, with adjustments on the offensive side with Taylor moving to back to guard, Fujibayashi at center, and Castelo sporting a new number 94 at nose guard on the defense. Eddy would get 50 tackles and 9.5 tackles for a loss in his Senior season effort. Recruiting for Eddy started with offers from Lyon College and Centenary College in Louisiana, but a move to the opposite side of the ball opened offers to the next rung up the college football ladder. First Southern Nazarene in OKC then Henderson State in Arkadelphia.

“The main thing that made me choose Henderson; it reminded me a lot of Greenwood.” Eddy Castelo said. “The head coach reminded me of Coach Young. They already have the mindset that ‘We’re going to win’. They were going to make sure that this next season was going to be something everyone remembers.”

“Eddy is a great example, guy moves over a year ago and he wants to be a part of winning program.” Coach Young said. “He comes in with the right attitude, comes in immediately and goes to work. He never caused a problem. Seeing his growth throughout the year. He was a good player when he started. But just every week he got better.”

Final Thoughts

Under Head Coach Chris Young, seventeen players have signed to play collegiately since the 2020-2021 season. In that first class of seniors Coach Young had, nine players signed to play college ball on every level it is offered NAIA, D3, D2, and D1.

“It’s an indication of what our guys put into the program. We have special young men at Greenwood that’s different.” Coach Young said. “I think, from the Pittbulls, to the Junior High, to the High School. I think they learn things that gives them the opportunity to play at the next level if their willing to put in the work. These three are great examples of good things happen when your’re willing to go to work every day.”

On the topic of the feeder programs into the high school, as a program; junior high, junior varsity and varsity, for 2024 they finished 45-2 with 7th grade, JV, and Varsity going undefeated. The Pittbulls program that is the foundation builder, of the 17 players that have signed since 2021, 12 of those came through youth football program.

“Our kids go through the process, I think youth program, like you said, is better than anybody else’. It allows our junior high coaches maybe to do a little bit more than most junior highs are able to do.” Coach Young said. “Our junior high does such a good job, that allows us at the high school to do some things that normally we wouldn’t be able to do.”

More than demand driving Super Bowl chicken wing price increase this year

Tammy Teague

-

1:08 pm

0

More than demand driving Super Bowl chicken wing price increase this year

By John Lovett
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station

The nearly 1.5 billion chicken wings fans are expected to consume during Sunday’s Super Bowl watch parties will cost more this year, and it is more than just the demand driving the increase.

Jada Thompson, an associate professor in the agricultural economics and agribusiness department for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, said the national composite chicken price is up 5 percent year-over-year for December, but for whole wings it is up 19 percent.

“Likely, these are higher because of the holiday demand and strong market for these products,” Thompson said of the chicken wings. “In terms of what is driving these prices, we can relate a lot to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza.”

The total number of chickens harvested in December was down 4 percent year-over-year, and while some of the dip was compensated by bigger birds, each chicken still only has two wings and two drumettes, she noted.

Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, or HPAI, impacted some broiler production with a loss of 5.6 million broiler chickens last year. It was the largest number of affected broilers in a given year since the outbreak started in 2022, she said. An additional 1.6 million broilers were lost this year by the end of January.

HPAI is also affecting the breeding side of the industry, with a 4 percent drop in broilers coming into the system, she added. There have been at least 65,000 breeder birds lost to HPAI this year and 127,000 were lost in the final three months of 2024.

“Broiler eggs in incubators are up, so the industry is trying to compensate for lower supplies,” Thompson said. “Work continues to improve biosecurity, develop vaccines and other control plans.”

Wing demand up

According to the National Chicken Council’s annual Chicken Wing Report, Americans are projected to eat 1.47 billion chicken wings watching the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LIX on Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s about 20 million more wings than last year’s game.

The increase in chicken wing sales is directly tied to American football and beer sales, the council adds.

“Cooking the whole bird was trendy in the 1960s and 1970s, but in the 1980s, U.S. consumers started preferring boneless-skinless breast meat, and wings became an inexpensive byproduct for chicken producers,” a National Chicken Council news release explained. “Restaurants and bars realized they could charge low prices for the relatively inexpensive protein, and due to the spicy/salty nature of the sauce, they discovered that beer sales would go through the roof when customers ate wings.”

Thompson conducts research for the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station, the Division of Agriculture’s research arm. She also teaches classes for the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

In addition to her work analyzing poultry meat prices, Thompson also recently collaborated on a study exploring the effects of HPAI on U.S. egg prices. The work, published last year in the journal Food Policy, was titled “Biological lags and market dynamics in vertically coordinated food supply chains: HPAI impacts on U.S. egg prices.” Her collaborators included corresponding author James Mitchell, assistant professor and extension economist in the agricultural economics and agribusiness department, and Trey Malone with the department of agricultural economics at Purdue University.

To learn more about the Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website. Follow us on X at @ArkAgResearch, subscribe to the Food, Farms and Forests podcast and sign up for our monthly newsletter, the Arkansas Agricultural Research Report. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit uada.edu. Follow us on X at @AgInArk. To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit uaex.uada.edu.

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three system campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs and services without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Nominations Now Open For MHS Wall of Fame

Sports

Adam Hecox

-

2:29 pm

0

Nominations Now Open For MHS Wall of Fame

According to an announcement by the directors of the Mansfield High School Tiger Wall of Fame, the process for expanding the exclusive club membership has already begun. Nominations for induction are now open. With it, plans are moving forward to have the WOF Class of 2025 ready for selection by this summer followed by a forthcoming fall induction event.

Nominations for potential inclusion onto this year’s memorial wall are now being accepted until June 30. Written nominations using a copy of the designated nomination form should be sent to the Mansfield Administrative Building in care of the administrative secretary. Completed forms may also be submitted electronically using a fillable document provided on the Mansfield Public School’s website.

From their homepage at “mansfieldtigers.org”, click the “community” tab and select “Mansfield Wall of Fame” from the drop down menu. There for your convenience you’ll find a first line selection offering a fillable nomination form that can be submitted electronically. The third line selection offers access to a pdf copy of the nomination form which can be printed and completed in writing. In between, a second line click offers a list of past inductees.

Official nominations will go through a screening process to verify accuracy and eligibility. The WOF Board, made up of community volunteers with a unique and tangible knowledge of Mansfield history, will compare the list of qualifying candidates and then select by vote this year’s class of inductees.

WOF membership consideration shall be given to individuals or teams that meet criteria established by the directors of the program. Notable benchmarks looked upon as a premium include individual or team state championships, state or national recognition, diverse and district recognition, varsity and civic recognition, and scholastic or benefactress contributions. Any candidate regarded as being in good standing that meets one or more of the recommended criteria may be nominated at any time. Exceptions exist for Mansfield graduates. A waiting period of five years from the date of their high school graduation is required of a MHS alumnus before they can become eligible for admission.

Recently revised by-laws drafted by the WOF Board of Directors and its officers have included a stated preamble and purpose for the organization. Simplified, the operation’s preamble defines the Wall of Fame as a memorial to the outstanding students who through their athletic endeavors and achievements and/or other individuals whose endeavors or achievements have brought honor to themselves, the school, or community. The abridged purpose of the WOF is to acknowledge individuals who have brought honor to MHS, to establish a motivating influence, and to foster community pride.

Phelps Repeats As K-12 Culinary Connection/MHS Student Chef Showdown Champion

Featured

Tammy Teague

-

3:56 pm

0

Phelps Repeats As K-12 Culinary Connection/MHS Student Chef Showdown Champion

By Jonathan W. Gipson
MAGAZINE SCHOOLS MEDIA RELATIONS

MAGAZINE – Magazine senior James Phelps successfully defended his title of K-12 Culinary Connection/Magazine High School Student Chef Showdown Champion on Friday afternoon at the Magazine High School cafeteria.

Phelps edged fellow MHS student Gracelyn Jones to win his second title in a row and put himself in contention for a spot in the eighth annual K-12 Student Chef Showdown overall competition later this spring. His winning dish was a Fried Jicama Pulled Pork Tostada with Blueberry Sauce.

It was the second MHS competition. Phelps won the inaugural competition last year with his Orange Honey Sriracha Chicken Gyros with Sweet Pea Hummus dish. He advanced to the overall competition and was among six student chefs around the state to reach the final round of the competition. Phelps finished fifth overall with an impressive 45/50 score, receiving a Kitchenaid food processor among other items.

Egg prices: What goes up usually comes down

Featured

Tammy Teague

-

3:53 pm

0

Egg prices: What goes up usually comes down

By Mary Hightower
U of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture

That omelet is costing more again thanks to highly pathogenic avian influenza, but Jada Thompson says the egg price rollercoaster has a downhill side too.

According to the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, since February 2022, HPAI has been detected in more than 1,400 flocks affecting 149.96 million birds. From Jan. 1-30 of this year, more than 19.63 million birds have been affected including 71 commercial flocks and 43 backyard flocks. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, or APHIS, is part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“The same similar thing happened at the end of 2022 and into 2023,” said Thompson, associate professor and poultry economist with the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture.

“What you have is very tight supply,” she said. “We were down about 3 percent in egg layer supply at the time and we’re down about 3 percent in supply right now.”

The number of egg crates in the grocery stores is also affected by a tiny bit of “just-in-case” buying by consumers.

“We see the egg prices, and then consumers are responding,” Thompson said. “There’s a bit of people buying all the eggs because they’re concerned about the availability”

Flu cycles

While the season for bird flu cycles with spring and fall wildfowl migrations, the rhythm of the egg cycle has its own complexities. Thompson said the retail cycle moves with the holidays when consumers tend to buy more eggs. And then there’s the biology.

“The high demand tends to coincide with periods of the year where egg laying kind of drops off a little, due to it being colder and the amount of light changes. There are hormonal effects to egg laying,” she said. “Then in summer, the bird flu starts ebbing and then it picks up in the fall.”

When bird flu is detected, the flocks need to be depopulated because the current strain of the disease has such a high mortality rate. Whether it’s turkeys, broilers or egg layers, it takes time to replace the birds — “there’s also kind of a bit of a biological lag in that price recovery system and for the supply chain.”

Looking back at 2023, as spring moved on, “we didn’t have as many cases of bird flu. We didn’t have as many birds out of the system, and so prices kind of recovered, and those stories fall away, and we don’t think about it,” Thompson said.

However, 2024 is reminding consumers of what was forgotten in the summer of 2023.

“We started seeing a bit more of an uptick. We saw a little bit more shocks to the market,” she said.

For comparison:

In 2022, 43 million table egg layers were affected by HPAI
In 2023 12 million layers were affected
In 2024, 38 million layers were affected.

“Right now? We’re already at 13 million in 2025,” Thompson said.

However, Thompson expects the supply will recover.

“Our food supply is healthy, our egg supply is healthy,” Thompson said. “I can tell you that the eggs are coming back on the market.”

Dairy and poultry

Another part of the avian influenza story is the dairy industry.

“There’s a linkage between the dairy industry and the poultry industry, and it’s probably the closest linkage we’re ever going to see right now,” Thompson said. “And it’s that dairy cows are susceptible to bird flu, and it reduces production.

“You can see milk prices starting to go up a little bit,” she said. “When the cows are sick, they producers have to dump the milk and that’s reducing some production levels.”

Affected dairy cows are isolated or segregated from the herd and owners are advised to contact their herd veterinarian for additional procedures, sampling, and confirmatory testing. It has been reported that on average, animals have been reported to recover within 30-45 days.

According to APHIS, 16 states reported dairy cow infections in January. The Food and Drug Administration says on its site that “pasteurization and diversion or destruction of abnormal milk are two important measures that are part of the federal-state milk safety system.

“Even if the virus is detected in raw milk, the current pasteurization process, HTST or high temperature, short time, will inactivate the virus,” according to the FDA’s site.

To learn about extension programs in Arkansas, contact your local Cooperative Extension Service agent or visit www.uaex.uada.edu. Follow us on X and Instagram at @AR_Extension. To learn more about Division of Agriculture research, visit the Arkansas Agricultural Experiment Station website: https://aaes.uada.edu. Follow on X at @ArkAgResearch. To learn more about the Division of Agriculture, visit https://uada.edu/. Follow us on X at @AgInArk.

About the Division of Agriculture

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture’s mission is to strengthen agriculture, communities, and families by connecting trusted research to the adoption of best practices. Through the Agricultural Experiment Station and the Cooperative Extension Service, the Division of Agriculture conducts research and extension work within the nation’s historic land grant education system.

The Division of Agriculture is one of 20 entities within the University of Arkansas System. It has offices in all 75 counties in Arkansas and faculty on three campuses.

The University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture offers all its Extension and Research programs to all eligible persons without regard to race, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age, disability, marital or veteran status, genetic information, or any other legally protected status, and is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer.

Arrest Reports 1/26

Insider

Tammy Teague

-

12:52 pm

0

This content is reserved for RESIDENT INSIDER members.

Please login or subscribe to view.

FTO Challenges Fire Fighters: ‘Train Like Your Life Depends on It… Because it Does’

Featured

Tammy Teague

-

2:51 pm

0

FTO Challenges Fire Fighters: ‘Train Like Your Life Depends on It… Because it Does’

Countywide fire training was held in Hackett over the weekend, with longtime veteran fire instructor Todd Johnson at the helm. Twenty-two volunteers represented the following departments: Greenwood Rural (2), EMP (2), White Bluff (2), Sugarloaf (5), Bonanza (2), Mansfield (1), and Hackett (8).

The introduction to fire/safety and personal protective equipment are two of three basic and required courses by the Arkansas Fire Academy. Johnson spent the first portion of each course presenting informational content and the second half working hands-on. From head to toe, Johnson made sure each firefighter had a working understanding of their gear and its purpose. “We need to make sure we go back to the basics, routinely,” stated Johnson.

After learning to properly suit up, each firefighter repetitively practiced until they could complete the task in under a minute. Standouts competed against each other, and in the end, two young men, one from Hackett and another from Greenwood Rural, suited up in less than 45 seconds.

Next came the SCBAs, Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus. “Look around at each other,” instructed Johnson. “To a child, you look unrecognizable and scary. That is why it’s important to go to schools and educate.”

The seasoned instructor encouraged his students to implement buddy checks with fellow firemen when training together as a department. “Also know that your mutual aid department may have different equipment so it’s good to learn from them as well.”

Johnson would go on to issue a challenge to all fire chiefs in the surrounding area: “That they spend time on their meeting nights doing gear drills.”

Before concluding the class, Johnson demonstrated the SWIM method and led volunteers through a training course that simulated a second-story building. “Train like your life depends on it, because it does.”