The District of Choice

Tami Marler, Director
Public Information
(918) 746-6298

News Release: Wednesday, February 25, 2009

The Students Sparkles Saved 

2/23/2009

Little Dystiny Hodges was a little hungry and wanted to heat up her snack. Big mistake.

"I was warming up my Arby's sandwich and I didn't know that the wrapper was aluminum inside…I took a deep breath and I yelled, 'the microwave's on fire!’ Everybody ran outside. It did a lot of damage. I said I'm sorry to my mom but I didn't know it had aluminum,” Dystiny, 9, recalls.

It could have been worse. Dystiny and Angelica Riggins, 6, are students at Celia Clinton Elementary that recently survived fires at their homes. Both students credit Sparkles the Fire Dog and her handler, firefighter Dayna Hilton, with teaching them the proper procedures in case of fire. Sparkles and Hilton visited Celia Clinton last fall and Dystiny and Angelica obviously paid attention.

Dystiny, Angelica and the Tulsa firefighters that responded to the blazes were honored at a recent school assembly.

After Angelica’s house was engulfed she “got down on the floor and crawled just like Sparkles did,” she said.

While Hilton and Sparkles travel the country giving presentations, there’s a local connection as Sparkles was adopted in Tulsa.

"We just don't hear stories like this one. These children and their families being here and we're so thankful because everyone knew what to do to be safe,” Hilton said. "That's what was so neat today was to hear the stories of the kids saying, 'I knew what to do because Sparkles taught me what to do.' It's very gratifying to hear something like that."

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