Raleigh/Wake Firefighting Blog  -

Does anyone have handy a list of pager tone frequencies for all county fire departments? A reader is requesting same...

That second Battalion Chief that you're hearing dispatched to working fires in Raleigh, among other incident types, is the Safety Officer. Members of the Training Division are no longer on call.

Okay, this might be the most shiver-inducing medical call that I've heard to date: "subject cut in face with industrial saw."

Construction has finally started on Knightdale's Public Safety Center at 950 Steeple Square Court, across the street from the town hall building. It's an office building that is being entirely (?) converted into a fire and (Wake? Eastern-Wake?) EMS facility. The centerpiece of the center are two triple-length drive-through bays. The rear will have what looks like one or two smaller, single-length bays as well. Pictures: http://www.legeros.com/ralwake/photos/2006-05-22-kps-construction-mjl/. The "handmade" project sign is a colorful touch.

Here are some of Lee's photos from the NC fallen firefighters events on May 6: http://www.legeros.com/ralwake/photos/2006-05-06-ncfff-lw/.

Pictures of Raleigh's new engines, as well as other apparatus parked at Services: http://www.legeros.com/ralwake/photos/2006-05-22-rfd-services-mjl/.

Raleigh's new engines are arriving, a quartet of 2006 Pierce Enforcers. The first appeared on Friday, and two more were expected yesterday (Saturday). The fourth should be here on Monday. Watch for some pics soon. The rigs are expected to replace Engines 3 (2001 Quality), 8 (1999 Quality), 12 (2002 Quality), and 15 (1995 Pierce). No word at this time who will get the "bumped" rigs. The oldest front-line engines are, I believe, E27 (1989 Pierce), E17 (1990 Pierce), and E26 (1990 Pierce). The next oldest are E15 and E21, each with a 1995 Pierce. The oldest reserve rigs are, I believe, E123 and E125 (1982 Mack each), E122 and E124 (1989 Pierce each), and E121 (1990 Pierce/1986 PemFab).

Found this while sorting through some files, "Tramp" Dunn and Yours Truly at my 1989 Raleigh fire academy graduation. Those were the days: READ MORE

Last month, Yours Truly spent an evening riding with EMS 203. An account of same was posted this week on FireNews: http://www.firenews.net/contents/news/05152006z.htm. Maybe I can do another one some time with, say, an area Batallion Chief.

Raleigh's 1988 Pierce Arrow snorkel has been placed in service as Truck 110, a reserve aerial. It's presently operating as Truck 16. This also seemingly indicates that the new 2006 Pierce Arrow XT aerial ladder has also been placed in service as Truck 26, which previously operated the elevating platform.

From the Public Safety section of the 2006-2007 proposed budget :

Highlighted Budget Changes (July 2006 – June 2007)

- Fire Station 28, which will be located near the intersection of Mitchell Mill and Forestville Roads, is projected to open March 2007. Fifteen personnel, five per shift, will staff the station. A pumping engine will be used for emergency response and will carry both firefighting and emergency medical equipment including a defibrillator.

. READ MORE

Some droll amusement from somewhere, courtesy of YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uOeozs7k80I. I like the rural FD siren going off in the distance, at the end.

I've posted a local copy of my firenews fallen firefighters article, along with a web version of my fallen firefighters database. The latter both replicates and expands upon the information available at the NCFFF site. If nothing else, maybe it'll snare some Google searches and compel contributions of additional info.

What's the story on why the radio patches from Cary to Wake County always sound so strange?

Some Raleigh apparatus updates... the incoming Pierce Enforcer engines are due in a few more weeks and may be assigned to stations 3, 5, 8, and 12. The new Pierce Arrow XT ladder has been lettered for Truck 26 and may be in service as early as next week. The 1986 Seagrave ladder is completely out of service and no longer a reserve. It'll be auctioned at some point, along with three Mack pumpers that have been sitting at Services for some time now. Thus, the reserve ladders will be the 1990 Spartan ladder, the 1988 Pierce snorkel (once removed from service), and the 1977 Mack platform. The new Freightliner/Hackney haz-mat truck is still a few weeks away from being in service. The present Haz-Mat 2, the 1991 Simon/E-One, will likely remain part of haz-mat and stay at Station 2. The role of SR2 is presently being performed by the new mini-pumper and trailer. Alas, we don't know at this time if the mini-pumper will remain at Station 2 or be sent to Station 9, so Mini 9 can be returned to Station 3. Old SR2, the 1988 GMC extended panel van, is being converted to a mobile command post. The unit may be named "fire command." New apparatus has also been requested in the 2007 budget, though tight monies may keep many of those requests from being fulfilled. More on that at a later time.

The sure sign of a big fire? The phrase "send me seven additional tankers."

One of Uniden's coming digital trunk-tracking scanners has temporary lock out, where you can lock out a talkgroup until you power off the unit. Oh, how I wish my Radio Shack scanners had those, for those times that someone in the county is directing traffic. Blue Honda. Red Chevy. Yellow Ford.

More photos from Saturday's events have been posted, with pics from parade staging and before the ceremonies.

Mike's photos: http://www.legeros.com/ralwake/photos/2006-05-06-ncfff-parade-mjl/

This was this morning's parade line-up. Photos forthcoming: READ MORE

Who's in Saturday's parade? Expect apparatus and/or honor guards from many or most of the following agencies: READ MORE

Lee and Mike will be around at Saturday's fallen firefighter events in downtown Raleigh. Look for us at the parade staging area, along the parade route, at the dedication ceremony, and at the memorial service, for starters. We'll be discretely documenting as much as possible and apart from the commercial media areas. Here's the parade route and other info, for anyone who hasn't seen it: http://www.firenews.net/contents/news/04192006a.htm.

The way the Locution Lady now says "Papa" tickles me every time.

Raleigh's new ladder was delivered on Monday, a 2006 Pierce Dash 105-foot rear-mount that will bump Truck 26, a 1988 Pierce Arrow snorkel, to the reserve queue. Here's a picture from Lee Wilson:

My better half and I were wed in Las Vegas on Monday. After departing the Little Church of the West, we posed for some pictures beneath the famous Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas sign. From there, we went across the street to Clark County Station #11. You haven't lived till you've walked across the top of a platform ladder while wearing a tux (or, in her case, a wedding dress):

This Cary News budget article notes a capital budget item of $750,000 for the land for Station 8 in the area of O'Kelly Chapel Road, near the area of Highway 55 and Alston Avenue, I'm told. Occupancy of the facility is speculated as within the next three years, with Station 9 (near Thomas Brooks Park, near Green Level Church Road and Green Hope School Road) occupied less than twelve months after that. Here's a Crude Map.

Other CFD news:

• Truck 7's replacement rig is still being spec'ed.
  
• The current academy graduates in the first part of June with 24 people.
  
• Engine 7 will be placed in service at Station 5 on June 11 with old Engine 2, a 1997 Pierce Lance (Unit 1391).
  
• Truck 7 will move from Station 5 to Station 4 until Station 7 is complete.