History of the Dixie Firefighters Association

      In the early 1960s, members of the Central Kentucky Firefighters Association, who lived west of Anderson County, began to consider the idea of creating an association more centrally located for them to attend meetings.  The participation from the West Side of the Central Association was very small.  In 1963, a group of firefighters met in the basement of the Nelson County Courthouse and formed the Dixie Firefighters Association. 

The Association grew slowly and formed many new friendships.  Its purpose was to help member departments conserve life and property through education, and promote fellowship between members.

     In the early days, names like Merl Conklin, Richard Bogard Sr., Archie Hawkins, Clifford Bowen, Arch Pendergrass, William Greenwell, Elroy Burrington, Ralph Hunt, and Ralph Wright were the main players.  Yes the Dixie Fire School began in those early days, but attendance was 100 or less.  Since then attendance has risen to over 650, with around 850 pre-registering.  You might remember the blizzard of 1993 when the Dixie Fire School was held in Bardstown.  We woke up on Saturday morning to over 6 inches of snow.  In 1993, the school was small enough to be mobile and was held in the host city of the current president.  In 1984, the  school was held in Lebanon Kentucky where the Golden Horse Shoe Motel wanted to rent rooms by the hour.  The Fire School has survived the floods of 1998, lost equipment, lost instructors, experienced less than adequate classroom space, and had its share of bad weather.  But one thing has always remained the same, the members have stuck together and pulled through every tragedy.

In the 1980s and 1990s, people like Rick Games, Buddy Bomar, Freddy DeWitt, Jim Akin, Frank Hall, Martin and Pam Bosemer, Mike and Pam Hulsey, Dale Dobson, Max and Randy Skinner have all played a significant roll in keeping the association moving along.  These folks are no stranger to hard work, long hours, and no pay.  Together the Association has built a Child Fire Safety House and the Bowen Training Center.  The training center has served as a model for several other training centers around the State.

Below is the  "Emergency Services Responder" Memorial at the Bowen Training Center in Elizabethtown.  Each October, the Dixie Firefighters Association hosts the monthly meeting and honors Responders that have passed away.  Working together there is very little we cannot do.

We live in a very strange time after September 11, 2001.   What does our future hold?  Who will pick up the ball and carry it forward?  Who will it be?  It will be us.  That’s right.  Us,  you and me and that young explorer who just joined your department.  That young recruit taking his or her first basic certification class.  They have a great responsibility ahead of them.  Our forefathers built this organization.  The hard part will be maintaining what you have and finding room for growth.  We must encourage both the young and old.  We must step forward into the future with the same steadfast goals we began with to help member departments conserve life and property through education and fellowship.  If we can do that we have met our future calling.