City honors firefighters who fought warehouse blaze

No cause of fire yet revealed

By DON WILBURN

donaldfwilburn@gmail.com

Three West Memphis Fire_ghters were recognized by Mayor Marco McClendon and Fire Chief Barry Ealy at City Hall for their efforts in _ghting the 7th street warehouse _re on September 30th.

“Great leaders are not picked, they emerge” said Chief Ealy, “from the background to the forefront, from obscurity to notoriety. President John Quincy Adams said ‘If you inspire others to do more, to dream more, to become more, you are are leader.’ These three leaders of the WMPD are the epitome of that.”

The _rst to be honored for his efforts in removing other _re_ghters from imminent danger was Captain James Allensworth and then Battalion Chief Kevin Catt for his outstanding organizational and command skills in managing and training the men and women on his shift to be prepared to handle large _res. Both men were also recognized in another

See FIREFIGHTERS, page A3

The firefighters honored, holding the framed certificates, were (from left to right) Captain James Allensworth, Division Chief Robert Mabe, Battalion Chief Kevin Catt.

Photo courtesy of the City of West Memphis FIREFIGHTERS

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ceremony in August for their rescue efforts during and after the tornado that struck Wynne earlier this year.

The third man to be honored was Division Chief Robert Mabe for writing revisions to the departments operational and standard operating procedures, operating guidelines, and training procedures for large fires were instrumental in preparing the firefighters to handle the large fires.

“These men do very well.” said Chief Mabe, “They go out, they put their lives on the line for real. Captain Allensworth looked like he was coming out of the pits of hell when I pulled up. He pulled his men out, saved three of four of them, that roof collapsed with the next five minutes.”

Authorities have not yet determined the cause of the fire that many say is the largest structure fire in the history of West Memphis.