Raleigh/Wake Firefighting Blog  -

Two major fires have beset Cameron Village. Both have involved the Bryan Building. December 2, 1964. Reported at 5:25 a.m. as a verbal alarm, presumably to nearby Station 5. Fire damaged a third of the block-long, two-story building on the west side of Daniels Street. Started in the kitchen of Hofbrau Restaurant. Extinguished with the assistance of a foam generator trailer, towered by a salesman passing through Raleigh. Cameron Village owner Willie York was so impressed, he bought one for the city. Foam 5 was housed at Station 5. One year later, the city added a second foam truck, stored at Station 1.

May 24, 1993. Summer not winter, but about the same time. Dispatched 5:46 a.m. Engine 5, Engine 6, Truck 1, Rescue 6, and Car 52 on the first alarm. Fire started in a doctor's office, and destroyed or damaged 25 businesses and offices. Crews battled the blaze for two and a half hours, before bring the fire under control. Three alarms were struck, and a rookie class also attended. Fire walls prevented the flames from spreading the entire length of the structure. Police closed the surrounding streets, and kept onlookers far away. The doctor whose office burned also suffered a fire at his home, which was reported 90 minutes into the Cameron Village incident. The blaze was believed intentional. Raleigh Fire Department photo unit member Jeff Harkey took this pic. Click to enlarge:
 

Jeff Harkey photo

As assorted news agencies are reporting, retired Asheville Fire Department Engineer Frank Griffin has claimed Saturday's $141 million Powerball jackpot. He's taking his winnings in one, big, fat, honkin', lump sum, which totals about $47 million after Uncle Sam gets his due. He purchase five tickets last week while buying gas. What will the 66-year-old Griffin do with the dough? He wants to take care of the kids-- three children, three grandchildren-- and take Mrs. Griffin to Hawaii. We wish him safe travels, and encourage the purchase of many Hawaiian shirts. He also wants to play more golf. Griffin also owns a janitorial services company. Read the press release.
 

Scott Sharpe/News & Observer photo

Wake County Fire/Rescue is now accepting applications for its third county-wide fire academy, which begins July 1, 2010 and graduates in December 2010. Applications must be received no later than May 21, 2010. Successful candidates get certified as Firefighter II, Haz-Mat Operations Plus, EMT Basic, ICS, Firefighter Rescue, Firefighter Survival, Rescue Technician, and Fit Testing. See this PDF flyer for application requirements, such as you must be affiliated with a fire department organization. The flyer also has contact information. Good luck everyone!
 

The Durham Fire Department took delivery of a new mobile support unit in late December. The 2009 International/EVI is a 22-foot rescue unit equipped with storage for air bottles and a cascade system, a light tower and 40KW generator, numerous equipment trays, and other features. View more photos, specs, and drawings at the manufacturer's web site. The truck replaces a 1998 E-One apparatus that's slightly shorter in size. It's housed at Station 1.
 

Every so often, someone asks about buying cameras. What's the best camera to buy, is the common query. Something bigger, badder, fancier, or powerful-- the asker asks-- than the point-and-shoot that they (or their wife) already has. My answer is always the same: a qualified "don't know." I have used only a couple brands of digital cameras in my day. First were Fuji FinePix, which worked well during my early digital years. Then switched to a Canon Digital Rebel XT¹. Then bought a second, so I wouldn't have to keep changing between close-up and far-away lens.

The Rebel XT is a digital SLR camera, which means single-lens reflex. Basically, when you press the shutter button, the picture is taken. Just like that, and with no shutter delay (except in lower light, or with special settings). My reason for upgrading to SLR was speed. There was too much motion on the fireground for my point-and-shoot camera to adequately capture. And as evident by the photos thus taken, the results have been positive.

Have point-and-shoot cameras advance in the years, to be comparable to digital SLR cameras? Don't know. What about Nikon or other brands of digital SLR? Don't know. Lee Wilson has taken photos with Nikon digital SLR cameras for years, and the quality of his photos speak for themselves. What camera bodies does he use? He shoots with a Nikon D60, and has used both a Nikon D50 and a Nikon D70 in his past.

Will buying and using those Canon and Nikon cameras result in pictures as good as ours? Perhaps. But there's a second piece of the equipment puzzle, and that's the lens. Er, lenses, plural. Better camera bodies call for better lenses. Yours Truly upgraded from his "kit" lens-- the one that came with the camera package-- to a higher-quality one, from the Canon "L" series. The results were better pictures, notably richer colors and "faster" photography. Meaning, light travelled through them faster than the older lenses, which helped improve low-light and night photos. (Talk about a nutshell of a explanation there!)

Below is the agenda for this week's Wake County Firefighter's Association quarterly meeting and supper, held at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, February 9, at Bay Leaf Station 1 at  11713 Six Forks Road. See you there!

February 9, 2010 - Quarterly Meeting Agenda

• Return Thanks          
• Meal             
• Call Meeting to Order           
• Roll Call      
• Attendance Award 
•  Financial Report.    
• Minutes of Last Meeting     
• Old Business
  •  Conference Report
  •  T- Shirts
  •  Benevolent Fund
• New Business
• Agency Reports
  •  Wake County Department of Fire and Emergency Management
  •  Forestry Service
  •  Wake Technical Community College
  •  NCFFA
  •  Other
• Committee Reports
  •  Training
  •  Web-Site
  •  Scholarship
• Committee Volunteers
  •  Publicity/Promotions (Conference)
  •  Scholarship
  •  Training
  •  Other
• Door Prizes
• Guest Speakers (pending)

The next Raleigh Area Public Safety Racing League (RAPS) endurance kart race is scheduled for Friday, March 19, 2010. The event begins at 3:00 p.m. with practice and team qualifying. The 90-minute endurance race begins at 6:00 p.m. RAPS races bring together members of the public safety community for fellowship in a fun setting. Start putting together that team of four drivers from your agency. And there's no limit on the number of teams from any one agency. The entry fee is $150 per team, payable the day of the race. The location is the same as before, Rush Hour Karting in Garner, at 5335 Raynor Road. Varoom.
 

Mr. Blogger continues compiling as many major fires in Raleigh's history as he can find. Here's his current list of three, four, and five fires with known or easily inferred alarm levels. Ergo, notably 1970s and forward. Observe the differences in engine and ladder companies on scene, and how they've grown over the decades. The counts include special-called and relief companies. Ladders equal both aerial and service trucks. The data is subject to change, as research confirms or changes same. 

Five Alarms

• 6/24/1970 - 122 E. Hargett Street - Peebles Hotel - 6 engines, 4 ladders
• 2/22/2007 - 3535 Oneonta Avenue - Pine Knoll Townes – 21+ engines, 7 ladders

Four Alarms

• 3/4/1959 - 2516 Hillsboro Street - Manmur Bowling Center - 4 engines, 2 ladders
• 7/7/1981 - 120 Fayetteville Street Mall - Mangel Building - 14+ engines, 4 ladders
• 3/18/1990 - 316 Fayetteville Street Mall - Wake County Courthouse - 8 engines, 4 ladders
• 1/23/1991 - 118 E. South Street - Meserve Hall, Shaw University - 12 engines, 4 ladders
• 4/4/1993 - 2654 S. Saunders Street - Shelton's Furniture Co. - 8 engines, 2 ladders
• 7/4/1993 - 3114-3118 Avent Ferry Road - Gorman Crossings Apartments - 9 engines, 3 ladders

Ed Arata in Sutter Creek, CA, is seeking information about Nott fire apparatus, specifically contacts for people or organizations that may have leads on three pieces of equipment:

• Nott chemical fire extinguisher, 60 gallon, circa 1910
• Nott metal host cart
• Nott hand-drawn hook and ladder and bucket wagon.

Now for some collector's minutia. Many folks have one of these toys in their collection. Made by Tomy/Tomica in 1975, it's a 1:130 scale, die-cast crash truck. Though it's tempting to think that it replicas an American Lafrance USAF O-11A apparatus (bottom photo), it really replicas a truck made by a company called Tokyu (middle photo). Perhaps the latter was based on the former? Below are a pair of photos that demonstrate the differences. The second picture was scanned from a Japanese-language fire apparatus book.
  

Wikipedia photo

By popular demand, here's a list of the locations of EMS units in Wake County. We'll call it version 1.1. And it includes the numbering scheme, and a second list of special units. Post or mail with corrections. The PDF document permanently lives at www.legeros.com/scanner. Thanks for everyone's help both getting this created, and future iterations. Click to read:
 

Found on FireNews, WTVD has a profile of Tamala Wilson, the first female Battalion Chief of the Durham Fire Department. Read the story, or click to watch the video:
 

Today's News & Observer has a recap of yesterday's meeting of the U.S. Chemical Safety Board in Raleigh, which voted to recommend to changes to national fire codes to prevent the type of explosion that occurred at the ConAgra plant in Garner on June 9, 2009. The blast killed four people, and injured 67 others. The unsafe practice cited by the board is purging natural gas inside a structure. They cited other similar explosions that have killed or injured others. Read the article. There's also more detailed information in this CSB press release, issued late yesterday.

Garner and Raleigh fire departments responded that day, along with numerous units from Wake, Garner, Eastern Wake, and Cary EMS. NC USAR Task Force 8 was also deployed. The incident extended over a couple days. We blogged about the units on scene, which numbered five engines, four ladders, four rescues (RFD, GFD, GEMS), five USAR units, four haz-mat units, two command posts (RFD, WCEM), air truck, fuel truck, fifteen-plus ambulances, additional paramedic units, and an EMS special ops unit. Photos were posted by Mike (below) and by Lee.
 

By Gary R. Urbanowicz. Hardcover. 272 pages. Turner Publishing, 2002. Splendid, full-color history of the New York City Fire Department, as seen through the context of its badges. And as the nation's largest and thus perhaps most history-filled department, the badges and their histories represent every seeming facet of the American fire service: Volunteers. Paid personnel. Early associations and organizations. The New York Fire Patrol. Firefighters.Officers. Marine Division. Appointed positions. Special details, such as Housewatch, Theater Detail, and Photographer. Civilian and uniformed support position, such as Inspector, Communications, Repairs & Transportation, Accounts & Procurement. Band and glee clubs. Auxiliary corps. Salvage corps. Honorary members. Buffs. Associations, societies, and clubs. Special event badges. Presentation badges. EMS badges. Private fire brigades and departments. Federal fire departments. Related city agencies. State fire services. You get the picture. Bought my copy on Amazon.
 

The gasbag opens the mailbag. Sundry messages and comments from readers, and smarmy answers therein:

Q: How much censoring have you had to do regarding the Fire Commission Meeting thread?
A: Very little. A couple anonymous pot shots were leveled at named entities. As was a signed one, which I deleted, after reflecting on libel law. The poster understood.

Q: I want to get a scanner that will receive anything fire-related in Wake County. Can you give me an idea of what type of scanner? I do fire training at Wake Tech, and would like to be able to monitor training and to maybe use it for classes.
A: This blog thread should answer your question. 

Q: Can you start a blog [thread] about the firefighters being fired in Georgia? I am sure you have heard about it.
A: The story of the DeKalb County incident has been well-covered on other fire sites and blog. There is a surprisingly level-headed discussion on same, however, on the firehouse.com forums. Tool on over there and pay a visit.

Q: Hey Mike, it looks like you captured a ghost in this picture. Look in the bottom right-hand corner of the photo, in the top of the smoke, about even with the head of the firefighter on the ground.
A: Wow!

For pre-weekend discussion, what are some of the longest supply lines that you've laid in your day? When, where, and how far? Did you use booster pumpers? Share your stories. For extra credit, can you identify this line laid in more recent times?
 

Salvage trucks are a common historical fixture in fire departments "up north" and in other major metropolitan cities around the country. Some departments operated dedicated salvage companies, or even separate salvage corps, the most famous being the New York Fire Patrol. Their 203-year history started with a group of volunteers who worked to protect the contents of buildings from fire and water damage.

Were salvage trucks, or even salvage companies used in North Carolina? Below is the first salvage truck that Mr. Blogger has happened across. Pictured in front of Greensboro's Central Station in 1955 is their "new salvage truck, built to the specifications" of the department. It carried "all normal and many specialized tools for salvage work." It appeared in the June 1955 issue of Hose & Nozzle. Don't any other details, such as how it responded, or how long it operated. Perhaps our readers can advise.
 

Hose & Nozzle photo

That was the name of a new fire district that county commissioners tentatively approved in the fall of 1987, as part of a plan to provide closer service to 6,300 people in the "no man's land" between Knightdale and Rolesville. The commissioners recommended creation of the new district after the existing departments failed during the summer to agree on a coverage plan. Said departments quickly came back to the table after the above proposal, and agreed to divide coverage of the area between Knightdale, Rolesville, Wendell-Holmes, and Wake-New Hope. Additionally, two substations would be built by Wendell and New Hope. What happened next? Don't know specifically, but those districts was expanded, and the substations were built and remain operational today. Bit o' trivia. Source: News & Observer, October 5, 1987, which we happened upon the other day.

Here's something interesting found for sale on eBay, a patch for an Fire Patroller, presumably a person who was a wandering fire watcher at an R.J. Reynolds tobacco plant in North Carolina. No other information known. Don't even have a good historical context in this case, on fire watching at industrial plants and other facilities. Memo to self: learn about that some time.
 

Another reader passes along photos of a set of Walt Disney Study Prints on the subject of fire prevention. Looks like they date to the late 1960s, based on other study print sets for sale on eBay. Google finds that Walt Disney first lent his characters for fire prevention ads in 1942, after the US Forest Service began educating Americans about the dangers of forest fires during World War II. Read more on that, including the 9,000-some fire balloons launched into the jet stream by Japanese hoping to start wildfires. Can't as easily find a history about Disney's study prints, though their purpose seems self-evident. Perhaps readers can add or enlighten. Click to enlarge:
 

The Rekindle Society, the Carolinas chapter of SPAAMFAA, passes along this announcement of their second annual muster and parade in Cheraw, SC, on Saturday, March 27, 2010. They're looking looking for apparatus and or equipment to be displayed, paraded, or pumped. They also seek fire safety displays, firefighter challenge participants, and vendors for a flea market area. There are no requirements for apparatus or equipment, other than it has to be insured. In service/out of service, new/old, it's all good to them. Here's their interest form, if you're interested. And click below to read their flyer.