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sacrifi ce these volunteers and their families make in order to answer the call for their communities. “Supper could be ready, they’re about to take that


fi rst bite, then the pager goes off and they’re out the door,” Ball said. “Could be a car wreck, house fi re, land fi re—they don’t know what’s waiting for them, but they’re ready to put their lives on the line.” Mike Weinkauf is the assistant fire chief of the Orlando Volunteer Fire Department in Logan County and a Central Rural Electric Cooperative member. His department has 16 volunteers who take care of any grass or structure fi res surrounding the town. “We’re a small community,” Weinkauf said. “With the other nearest help being 25 minutes away, we’re just looking to help our neighbors.”


Weinkauf said the emergency manager’s role is very needed during a crisis. He said Ball is always there to let the task force know what is going on and works to get them all the resources they may need.


Keith Shadden, emergency management director for Beaver County. Photo by James Pratt


If Ball gets a call for help from Weinkauf, he said he’s taking notes and try- ing to think ahead.


“I think, ‘You guys are going to get thirsty, you might need a dozer, there may be wheat fi elds nearby, there’s a potential for wind shift,’” Ball said. “I love what I do—every day is a new adventure.” Rural Oklahomans are so self-suffi cient that Ball said sometimes it’s hard


for people to ask for help. However, there are multiple groups waiting to answer the call and willing to team up to lend a hand. Weinkauf sums up the relationship between the volunteers well.


“We just do good together,” Weinkauf said. Look for the good


One of the greatest compliments Shadden said he has ever received also came from a fi reman. “He said, ‘I just feel better when you’re here,’” Shadden said.


Shadden shared these words to emphasize how im- portant it is to be present and to be involved. After following his mother’s advice, Fred Rogers said, “I came to see that the world is full of doctors and nurses, police and fi remen, volunteers, neighbors and friends who are ready to jump in when things go wrong.”


Shadden will be the fi rst to say the position is not


about any single person. Through his words and actions, it is clear his hope is to compliment his own brothers and sisters in emergency management and volunteers in the fi eld.


This sentiment and service is why you may have to look hard for these helpers, but through the work of Oklahoma’s local emergency managers you will always notice where these neighbors have been.


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