Raleigh/Wake Firefighting Blog  -

In the interest of public safety and preventing mass aggravated eye strain among the local emergency responder community, the following posting has been updated with an additional photo. This blogger stands ready to moderate passionate discussion on this incident, including anonymous speculations on the person shown in the foreground and their choice of bikini color therein. Thank you.

Easily the most curious sight recently seen at a fire scene, this bikini-clad hula hooper did some sidewalk spinning earlier this evening beside apparatus parked on Morgan Street. That's District 1 and Air 1 behind the twirling whirler. Or is it a whirling twirler? Units were on scene at a structure fire at the intersection of Morgan and Whitley streets. Trash was discovered burning inside an abandoned warehouse.

After forcing entry, crews quickly extinguished same. If memory serves, ventilation was underway at the time of this photo, after a boarded window was cut open on the building's south side. There's also a second hula hooper not shown, and to the left of the frame. Street clothes on that one. Dispatched about 9:30 p.m., units on scene included Engine 5, Engine 13, Engine 1, Ladder 1 Ladder 4, Rescue 2, Battalion 3, Car 10, Car 20, Air 1, EMS 63, D1. Pictures forthcoming, including maybe another hula shot. Click to enlarge:
 

Here's what's happening in the next couple months. Thanks for the comments on the previous version of this topic, which has been deleted. Post or mail corrections or additions to this as desired.

Sep 3 - Fri

• Wake County Emergency Management Warehouse Open House, for public safety employees - 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Sep 7 - Tues

• Wake County Emergency Management Warehouse Open House, for public safety employees - 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Sep 11 - Sat

• 50-210 FD (Johnston) - Fireman's Day - Station 1- 10:30 a.m. to 10:00 p.m.
• Brassfield FD (Granville) - BBQ Chicken and Pork Cook
• Epsom FD (Franklin) - Fireman's Day
• Tunnels to Towers 5K Race - Wake Forest - 6:00 a.m. Registration, 8:00 a.m. Race Time

Sep 13 - Mon

• Wake County Emergency Management Warehouse Open House, for public safety employees - 10:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Sep 18 - Sat

• Durham Highway FD - Public Safety Day - Leesville High School - 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m.

Sep 25 - Sat

• Warrenton FD - Fireman's Day

Sep 26 - Sun

• Stony Hill FD - Open House and Fire Prevention Day - Station 1 - 2:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.
• Selma FD - Dedication of New Apparatus - 1:00 p.m. until whenever

Oct 1 - Fri

• RAPS Race - Rush Hour Karting, Garner

Oct 2 - Sat

• Garner FD - Fireman's Day - Station 1

Oct 3 - Sun

• Bay Leaf FD - Open House - Station 1 - 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m.

Oct. 9 - Sat

• Creedmoor FD - Fireman's Day Parade and BBQ Fundraiser - 3:00 p.m. parade, followed by meal at South Granville High School
• Parkwood FD - BBQ Cook-Off - Station 1 - 12:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Oct. 23 - Sat

• St. Baldricks at the Flipside, Clayton - 3:00 p.m.

Saw this this week from the New York Times, which was writing about the Army's new physical training program. They've spent nearly a decade making the thing, which was rolled out to five posts that handle 145,000 recruits per year. The official goal of the program is to reduce injuries, and better prepare soldiers for combat in rough terrain, such as Afghanistan. It's also an attempt to address a big honkin' problem facing today's military: overweight and unfit recruits.

Reported a report titled "Too Fat to Fight," the proportion of potential recruits who failed their physicals each year rose nearly 70 percent between 1995 and 2008. They cite the cause as a "legacy of junk food and video games, compounded by a reduction in gym classes in many high schools," writes the Times. The article talks about the new fitness routines, which are intended to reduce injuries such as stress fractures, and more accurately reflect the physical activities they'll actually perform in combat. Wow, what a concept.

Read the article, and discuss as desired.

In particular, how's the fat factor affecting fire service recruiting? What modifications or revisions have you seen to fire department physical training problems?

As numerous news agencies reported last week, one person was killed and another injured on a railroad trestle in Iredell County. They and ten others were hunting for a "ghost train" about two miles west of Statesville. They were struck at 2:45 a.m., when a real train rounded a curve on Bostian's Bridge over Third Creek. Most were able to jump clear. A 29-year-old man was struck and died on scene, having been thrown to the bottom of the 100-foot ravine. Before he was struck, he pushed a woman to safety. She fell 30 to 40 feet and was airlifted to Carolinas Medical Center.
 

As news reports recounted, the group did not immediately react to the oncoming train. They thought the thing was an apparition. The accident happened on August 27, which is the anniversary of a deadly derailment that killed 25 people at the same site over 100 years ago. Legend has that a "ghost train" makes appearances on the tracks, and that you can hear the sounds of grinding metal and screaming passengers, as well as witness a watchman's lantern. WRAL recounted the legend last year. But did you know that six Asheville firefighters were aboard that day, and three were killed?
 

Here's your morning historical photo. In May 1955, the town of Knightdale received their first fire truck, a 1942 General Motors pumper that was purchased from Navy surplus for $1,250. The truck was equipped with a 500 GPM pump and a 750 gallon tank. It was the second piece of apparatus for the  Knightdale Fire Department. The volunteers had previously used a 1 1/2-ton town truck to transport hose, ladders, and other equipment. The fire department was formed one year earlier, and presumably concurrent with the installation of fire hydrants in town. Read more about their history. Click to enlarge the photo, taken by John Stalvey.
 

The Midtown Raleigh News reported this week on the upcoming second annual local Tunnels to Towers 5K race, where local firefighters will run through the streets of Wake Forest wearing full turnout gear, as a tribute to FDNY Firefighter Stephen Siller, who died in the 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center.

As the article notes, Siller was off-duty and heading to play golf when the planes struck the twin towers. He turned around, and headed back to town. Finding the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel closed to traffic, he ran the rest of the way and while wearing 75 pounds of his gear.

His journey inspired an annual Tunnel to Towers run in New York, and that story further inspired a seventh-grade teacher in Franklin County, who organized last year's race. The event is the only Tunnel to Towers run conducted outside of the big city. In addition to local firefighters, any member of the community can participate and walk or run the course.

Registration starts at 6:00 a.m. on September 11, and the race starts at 8:00 a.m. Proceeds will be donated to Stephen Siller "Let Us Do Good" Children's Foundation, the UNC Jaycee Burn Center, and Luggage with Love. For more information about the local event, visit tunneltotowerswf.org. For more about the story of the event, read the article.
 

Franklin Academy/Midtown Raleigh News photo

Every Sunday, Firegeezer posts an episode from Emergency! That's good stuff, but we can kick up the cheese factor by sliding from television to film, and from docudrama to disaster movie. Courtesy of YouTube, let's flash back to those Airport movies of the same era, and this gem of a sequence at the end of Airport 1975. Boeing 747 coming hot into Salt Lake City. My inner ten year-old remembers those vintage crash trucks well. And how many character actors can you spot, in addition to the Big Movie Stars? Love the Cadillac ambulances swerving to a stop at the 4:08 mark. Might have to post a few more of these. 
 

Let's wrap the afternoon with an artifact from this morning's fire on Coventry Lane. This box of tissue came to the aid of the residents displaced by the blaze. See more photos, or click to enlarge.
 

Since we're diving so deep into the past, let's add some other photographs. These appear on my outdated history pages of Wake County fire departments. Yeah, yeah, living the past, but the pictures and stories are pretty darn cool. Click to slightly enlarge all:
 
 

Here's the second article that appeared in the June 16, 1971 issue of The North Side News. The image quality is lower, as these were scanned from a photocopy. Sorry about that. Click to enlarge each.
 

THE FLEET STANDS READY - The three trucks of Six Forks Fire Department stand by to answer any call.
 

COMPLICATED CONTROLS - The pump of Engine number 1 is intricate as well as beautiful. When in operation, manning this station is no easy task.
 

The Volunteer Fireman, What Kind of Man?

By Glenn Griffin

They meet every week for drills and instruction. They are on call every hour of every day. Danger is their working partner. Disaster is their enemy. Yet they serve, and they do it gladly. They're like the old Tennessee Vols: "spirit and courage" are their middle names.

Out on Six Forks Road, they are known as the Volunteer Fire Department. With no monetary compensation, these men risk their lives for the security of the community. The only benefits they receive are those offered under a group accident and life insurance policy that is effect from the time of the alert until the time they return home.

Guess collisions between vehicles and buildings really do happen quite often around here. The latest was this passenger vehicle that struck a house on Chatham Lane early Saturday morning. The driver was transported with injuries.
 

Steve Worthy/WRAL photo

Or, as this post was originally titled, whoa. Speaking of house fires, Thomas Babb snapped this strong photo that's been posted by WRAL, from last night's house fire in Holly Springs on Stone Barn Circle. As it happens, Mr. and Mrs. Blogger had been in town just an hour earlier. Oh well. Recalling the radio traffic, Battalion 1 was first on scene, and found fire showing from the attic above the garage of a two-story, wood-frame structure. Units on scene included Holly Springs Engine 1, Ladder 1, and Apex Engine 4, Ladder 4. Readers, feel free to add more. Good picture!
 

Thomas Babb/WRAL photo

Vertical ventilation was performed at this morning's house fire at 709 Coventry Court. Engine 9 arrived at a one-story, wood-frame, vinyl-sided structure with 1,246 square-feet. Built 1976. Heavy smoke coming from the front of the structure. By the time they stretched their lines, fire was showing from the front. At a subsequent point in time, ladder company personnel cut a hole in the roof. Below is a picture of same. The alarm time was about 5:15 a.m. Units on scene included E9, E16. E4, E15, L1, R1, B1, B_, C10, C20, A1, C5, EMS 3, EMS 12_, EMS 12_, M9_, D4, T1. Click to enlarge:
 

Now let's talk about the shot. The subjects are on a roof. The photographer is on the street, and maybe ten feet away from the curb. The camera is a Canon Digital Rebel XT, with a 70-200mm f4.0 L lens. That is, a telephoto lens with sufficient focal length to "see" what's happening. The problem is the amount of light. Though the halogens are blazing on several pieces of apparatus, it's still questionable if there's enough available light  to make the picture happen. That is, a minimally or non-blurry picture.

Time to revise a little bit of history. Engine 7 was placed in service at Station 7 on December 30, 1959. That much we have known for some time. But Engine 7 was also placed in service two years prior at Station 3. This is a newer piece of information that was found first in the Engine 7 log book, and then this morning in the Station 1 radio dispatcher log book. From the handwritten entries:

Engine 7 was placed in service at Station 3 on September 24, 1957, at 2:25 p.m.

A Shift
Capt. C. T. May
A. E. O'Neal
J. R. Jackson
R. D. Truelove
J. D. Partin

B Shift
Capt. S. J. Talton
V. H. Marshburn
J. Warren
Z. V. Burchette
H. J. Gosnell

Call volume was low, as these recorded activities for the first five days:

• 9/24 - Drill tower
• 9/25 - Station 1 for school
• 9/26 - Station 2 for gas
• 9/27 - School on streets
• 9/28 - 804 Wilford, the first call for Engine 7.

And two months later, Engine 7 was removed from service. The log book entry: "Engine 7 was removed from service on November 14, 1957, at Station 1."

Went to the races last night. Wake County Speedway, which is just a handful of miles south of town on Simpkins Road. Says their web page, the track was built in 1962, was paved at the end of the 1986 season, and has been operating for 48 consecutive years. That's a lot of races!

In May, the Independent Weekly published a nifty profile of the place and the drivers therein. By writer Bob Geary. The racing is in multiple classes, from four-cylinder stockers (no engine modifications allowed) to highly-charged super late models.

Mr. Blogger paid an early visit, early in the evening. Before the practice runs had started. With cameras, of course. Pretty nifty all around. Definitely need to visit a few more local tracks, as well as at least one NASCAR event.

Back in the day there was a track in Raleigh, southwest of the present intersection of Atlantic Avenue and New Hope Church Road. Was built in the mid 1950s and demolished by the late 1960s. Here's an old map showing same. (And didn't we blog the transcription of a fatal racing accident there, couple years back?)

There were some responders standing by last night, as well a wrecker crew. Below is one of the two trucks that serve the speedway. Make and model, anyway? Though that push bar probably isn't OEM, LOL. Click to enlarge:
 

Guess it's no surprise that the voice of the Cars movie character 'Mater played through my head all evening. That was an anthropomorphized tow truck as voiced by comedian Larry the Cable Guy. His catchphrase is "git-r-done." Here's the Wikipedia entry on said phrase, and it's suitably droll:

The phrase "git-r-done" or "get 'er done" (or "git er done") is a southern United States colloquialism meaning to finish an action, to get the job done. It is also used in the Canadian province of Newfoundland.

The phrase can be found, published in the late 1800s, in some of Joel Chandler Harris' Uncle Remus stories. The phrase has become more widely known through Daniel Whitney's title character in Larry The Cable Guy, as both a catchphrase and book title spelled "Git-R-Done", with the company Git-R-Done Productions.

There is a vodka cocktail called a "Get 'er Done" made with grenadine syrup and citrus soda, added to vodka.

See also Round tuit - a pun on "get around to it"

For your Friday enjoyment, the following article and pictures appeared on the front page of The Northside News on June 16, 1971. The Six Forks Fire Department was profiled in that issue, and over a number of pages. We'll work on getting more pictures scanned, and more text transcribed. This was their fourth issue of that newspaper. Don't know the publisher, or how long they operated. A stylized version of the station photo appeared in my Raleigh and Wake County Firefighting books, and is the only such picture that Yours Truly has come across. Maybe there are others. Click to enlarge these pictures:
   

AT DAWN - The station awakens from the night before. There had been no call, but everything stood ready nevertheless. The call for help brings on a sudden transformation at the station.
 

READY TO ROLL - Ben Jeffreys, driver, Don Adams on the pump, and Fred Lynn on the back board of Engine number 1 for a call. They are "turned out" in full gear.
 

Volunteer Fire Department Renders Great Service

It all began for the Six Forks Fire Department back in 1956. The first fire station was located where the present Wachovia Bank sits in North Hills. The single fire truck was kept in an addition to Bill Howell's store.

Next, the station moved across Six Forks Road to the area where the NCNB North Hills Branch stands. And in 1962, the station found its present location.

Now, the Six Forks Fire Station is sentinel for over $14,000,000 in personal property. The 26 men of the fire department and their three trucks have an awesome responsibility. The area covered by the department runs from the west of N.C. number 50 all the way to the Old Wake Forest Road. They serve as far north as the Six Forks community.

The county Fire Services Division has hopped aboard the Twitter train. This week they announced that the Wake County Fire Training Twitter account has been placed in service: http://twitter.com/wakefiretrain. They've selected this social media tool to deliver specific information about fire training in a timely manner.They'll be posting current and future training events, class cancellation notices, and other general information as often as possible. This augments their normal communications methods. Contact Fire Training Director Ricky Dorsey for more information. Tweet, tweet.

The Fayetteville Observer posted this photo of the barracks under construction that burned at Fort Bragg today. Seven (or eight, as some news agencies are reporting) firefighters were injured in the blaze that was reported about 10:20 a.m. and was reportedly started by rooftop welders. They suffered heat exhaustion, and were transported to Womack Army Medical Center and Cape Fear Valley Medical Center for treatment. Some 60 firefighters and 17 trucks were on scene, including Fort Bragg, Pope Air Force Base, Fayetteville, Spring Lake, Eastover, Stoney Point, Westarea, Benhaven, Cotton, and Pearces Mill fire departments. Two aerial streams from FFD and SLFD flowed on the three-story, 27,000 square-foot structure that's about 50 percent complete. The base's aerial truck was out of service. The fire was controlled in about 90 minutes.
 

Fayetteville Observer photo

Here's another vintage fire photo. August 8, 1981. Campus Launderette at 2114 Hillsborough Street. Fire spread to the I Play Games arcade and a North Carolina State University Agricultural Extension Service workshop. Things to notice in the photo. There's the old Mack/Baker platform raised in the rear of the buildings. The tiller truck parked on the street shows its original all-red paint style, and before the covered jumpseat was added behind the cab. Police officer is wearing a safety vest, good for him. And there's a sign for Arthur Murray Dance Studios. What else do you notice? Click once or twice to enlarge:
  

Here's a good picture of yesterday's vehicle accident in Durham that closed all four lanes of Interstate 85 near Duke Street. Chuck Liddy took the picture that was posted in this News & Observer article. Click to enlarge:
 

Chuck Liddy/News & Observer photo

Medical monitoring with Six Forks EMS at last night's house fire on Gibbs Hill Court, with Bay Leaf, Durham Highway, Stony Hill, and Falls fire departments. Included water shuttle operations. Was a dark and humid night. Photos later.