J.D. BAILEY
Banner-News
The Local Emergency Planning Commission (LEPC) of Columbia County held its quarterly meeting at noon Wednesday to update first responders and agencies on potential crisis management tips and threats that could face the area. Magnolia Fire Chief Greg Pinner lead the meeting and asked representatives from local departments for any updates or input they had.
The most pertinent update came from Columbia County representatives regarding a potential burn ban. Judge Larry Atkinson was unable to attend Wednesday’s gathering at the White Dove Church hall, but a rep said recent rainfall did little to help dry conditions facing the region and that a county-wide burn ban could be issued in the coming days.
According to county statistics, area rainfall accumulation for the year currently hovers around 14 inches – nearly 15 inches under normal amounts for early December. Pinner added that he had spoken recently to a National Weather Service meteorologist who said drought conditions are likely to continue at least for the next few months.
“He said we’re looking at a drier and warmer than usual winter,” said Pinner.
Local law enforcement officers said all should be aware of of an uptick in car break-ins for Columbia County, but that most incidents were due to passers-by opening unlocked vehicles. Officials noted that residents’ belongings are at risk by not locking their automobiles.
The Area Agency on Aging of Southwest Arkansas announced it would receive approximately $100,000 in funding over the next six months from the Arkansas Department of Human Services. It was stated that $467,000 in funding to southwest Arkansas has been lost in the past seven years.
Bruce Rushton of the Columbia County Amateur Radio Club announced that he and others were in the process of setting up a four or five state (Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Oklahoma) radio communication network that could be used in a disaster event where long-range communication – including phones and internet – were wiped out.
“It’s a system similar to an early email setup from back in the 1970s and ’80s,” said Rushton. “We’re not using the internet, we’re using RF (radio frequency) so we can still send messages through the states.”
Pinner and Larry Taylor, Columbia County emergency management coordinator, both announced they would like to hold an emergency readiness drill in spring 2018. An exercise was scheduled to take place in October at Southern Arkansas University, but LEPC officials opted to postpone the event after two student suicides took place on the Magnolia campus. A university rep said the school had recently bolstered its counseling staff to help prevent future incidents.
The Columbia County Ambulance Service announced that its personnel had recently undergone additional cardiac and stroke emergency training.
LEPC will next meet in the first quarter of 2018, but a time and location have yet to be announced.