Susan Varno Published August 14, 2016 at 12:00 a.m. - In 1815, the first settlers arrived in what is now Dolph, Arkansas. Two-hundred and one years later, in April 2016, Dolph officially opened its first fire station. Dolph has never been incorporated.
“The Pineville Volunteer Fire Department was organized in 1975,” Fire Chief Mike Stephen said. “About that time, Hale Gene Moody and others in Dolph bought a Jeep from the U.S. Forest Service. They put a tank on it and parked it there. We needed a second station so we could respond faster to calls in Dolph.”
Planning for Station No. 2 began after March 23, 2011, when a brush fire burned more than 900 acres in Dolph. The Pineville, Rodney and Calico Rock fire departments fought the blaze.
“It was dry and windy,” Stephen said. “A fire creates its own wind. Our duty is to save lives, prevent injuries and protect property in that order. For brush fires, we contact the
Arkansas Forestry Commission. They may ask us to take out a small line of fire so they can get their dozers in front of it. That night, Forestry was dumping water from planes and had dozers digging fire trenches. One small shed burned. The rest was undergrowth and dead trees.”
First, Stephen looked at possible locations for Station No. 2 along Sanders Lane, the only paved road in Dolph. His firefighters talked to landowners about selling their property.
“Someone talked to Carl Russell,” Stephen said. “Carl Russell offered to lease us the land at no charge for as long as we have an operating fire station in Dolph.”
Next, Stephen applied to the White River Planning and Development District for a grant, he said.
“This agency is a clearinghouse for rural-services funding. We put together a $100,000 turnkey plan,” Stephen said. “They gave us a grant of $15,000, so our plan changed. State Rep. Tommy Wren (D-Melbourne) helped us get a second grant. We ended up with $32,000, which we had to spend within two years.”