In the early morning hours of Sunday, May 26, 2024, during the Memorial Day weekend, multiple tornadoes struck northwestern Arkansas, causing enormous damage and leading to the death of three people in Benton County.
Among the communities most impacted by the storms, the City of Rogers sustained damage to nearly 100 city locations, sustaining an estimated $45 million in damage.
The city’s emergency personnel—fire, emergency medical services and police—stepped up to help provide aid to those affected by the storm, acting as heroes in a time of great need. In particular, Rogers firefighters responded first to calls of help. The department took more than 300 calls in the first 12 hours following the storm, responding to medical calls, gas leaks, people trapped in their homes, fire alarms and other emergency situations.
To help coordinate the department’s overwhelming number of calls, Battalion Chief Brandon Howard personally took control of dispatch orders at the Rogers Dispatch Center.
Rogers firefighter Wes Partin served as driver for Engine 2, one of the first trucks that responded to the tornado around 2 a.m. He said that the first response was eye-opening.
“The damage was a lot worse than we expected,” Partin said. “On our way to our first call we had to drive around downed power lines, trees, pieces of fence and even roofs that had been blown off.”
He said every response on that first day required firefighters to clear the roads of downed trees in order to get to the response addresses. The amount of trees fallen on houses, power lines down and gas lines pulled out of the ground had the entire department running from call to call throughout the night and most of that next day.
Thanks to lessons learned from previous storms, every Rogers fire truck was equipped with chainsaws, without which several addresses could not have been reached.
Partin said the city also benefited from having a very robust special operations program, having personnel trained in water rescue, structure collapse and several other disciplines.
Firefighter and EMT medic Aaron Melson said the condition of the roads also made transporting those injured in the tornado to the hospital very challenging.
“Just to make it to the hospital I had to drive over curbs, through yards, and over debris,” Melson said. “As soon as we were cleared from that call we would instantly be dispatched to another emergency.”
He said daybreak helped him and his fellow firefighters see even more clearly the severity of damage to the city.
“Nothing can prepare you mentally for seeing that amount of destruction in such a short period of time, but our training for major emergencies helped prepare me for this day.”
Fire departments from surrounding cities also provided resources to help Rogers units respond to calls.
Carlie Martin was in the midst of completing the Rogers Metro Chiefs Fire Academy. Though she couldn’t yet respond to calls herself, she said she witnessed firsthand the tireless dedication of her brothers and sisters in the department, many of whom worked nonstop for over 24 hours.
“As a department, we are trained in every facet of emergency services,” Martin said. “In times of crisis, when no one else knows what to do, it’s the fire department that steps in.”
“Nothing can prepare you mentally for seeing that amount of destruction ... but our training for major emergencies helped prepare me for this day.”