Fire offers lessons, opportunity to give

By Staff
In a way, the events of Monday night in the city of Russellville are indicative of the life firemen lead.
Monday at 7 p.m., the Russellville Fire and Police Departments gathered at the A.W. Todd Centre for their annual joint Christmas dinner. At 7:44 p.m., a call came in of a local house fire.
Just like that, the policemen were eating alone, as all the fire fighters left the event to respond to the fire call.
Roughly four hours later, the firefighters returned to the Todd Centre to eat their warmed-over Christmas dinner after clearing the house fire scene.
Not your typical office Christmas party, but that's life in a fire department. These individuals are really on duty 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, putting their lives on the line to protect and serve us. For what they do, we would like to say thank-you from the bottom of our hearts.
The tragic house fire, an awful event any time of year but especially around the holidays, presents the city of Russellville with a unique opportunity to reach out to two local families and show we care.
The fire destroyed a duplex apartment, costing two families all their possessions, including all their Christmas presents. There are four little girls involved in this tragedy, ages 13, 9, 5, and 3.
The families have a fund set up at Citizen's Bank to help save Christmas and help replace their clothing and belongings. Residents can give to the fund at any Citizen's Bank. The fund is in the name of Margie Hill.
Show your Christmas spirit and assist these families. You'll learn the lesson that to give is better than to receive.
And finally, let's all learn from the fire to keep an eye on electrical outlets and any potential fire hazard this time of year. One tragedy like this one is far too many; we certainly don't need another one.