Wake County Fire Commission Meeting – Thursday, March 18, 2021

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The Wake County Fire Commission will hold a virtual version of its regular scheduled meeting on Thursday, March 18, 2021. The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. 

The agenda and meeting documents are below. Information on submitting public comments and access for viewing/listening are posted on the Wake County Public Meetings Calendar. 

View Meeting Documents

Agenda

  • Meeting Called to Order: Chairman Keith McGee
    • Invocation
    • Pledge of allegiance
    • Roll of Members Present
  • Items of Business
    • Adoption of Minutes for January 21, 2021 Meeting
    • Approval of Agenda
    • Long Range Plan Guiding Principals & Standards Update and Recommendation
  • Public Comments:
    • Comments emailed in from the public, as directed on the public advertisement on the County
      Meeting Calendar prior to noon on March 18, 2021. Any comments received will be emailed to the
      Fire Commission prior to the meeting. Depending on the number of comments received, the
      comments may be read by Director Alford at this time.
  • Regular Agenda
  • Information Agenda
    • Fire Tax Financial Report – Michael Gammon
    • Standing Committee Updates
      Administrative
      Apparatus
      Budget
      Communications
      Equipment
      Facility
      Health & Wellness
      Training
      Volunteer Recruitment & Retention Committee
    • Chair Report
    • Fire Services Report
  • Other Business
  • Adjournment – Next Meeting – Special Called Meeting for Budget on April 15, 2021
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Vintage Pennant from the North Carolina Volunteer Firemen’s Association

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This content originated as a Facebook posting.

NCVFA history. Fabric (felt) pennant for the 1956 annual meeting of the North Carolina Volunteer Firemen’s Association, AKA the colored firemen’s association. They met in Warrenton in July of that year, for their 66th annual gathering.

^ Warrenton is notable in the state’s history of black firefighters as having the longest-serving black fire company, dating to the 1860s. They operated until 2004, when the municipal Warrenton FD merged with Warrenton Rural FD.

This one is a rare find, as surviving artifacts of the NCVFA are few and far-between. That is, to date. More on this later, as we’ll be attempting some shaking-of-the-bushes to see if we can find more.

It’s a felt banner, measure some twenty inches in length. This image was created in sections, using a flatbed scanner. It has a clear plastic sheet affixed with staples, and thus the source of the ripples seen in part of the picture.

From the collection of the (future) Plummer Hook & Ladder Museum in Warrenton. They’re a non-profit organization housed in the town’s old fire station, and who are steadily working on their facility and exhibits, but are still a ways away from opening to the public.

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Factory Photo of Warrenton’s Ford/Bean Pumper

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This content was first posted on Facebook.

Warrenton history. Factory photo of 1964? Ford/Bean, 750/500. Reg # B6706. Called a John Bean HPV Fire Fighter, and equipped with high-pressure capability.

Delivered with two high-pressure fog guns, two 1 1/2-inch pre-connected lines, three 2 1/2-inch outlets, and 1,200-foot capacity hose bed. Cost around $18,000.

Lettered as “No. 3,” meaning the third motor truck for the town, following a 1938 Ford/Oren, and a 1910s ___/Howe.   

Scanned from photo print from the collection of the (future) Plummer Hook & Ladder Museum in Warrenton. They’re a non-profit organization housed in the town’s old fire station, and who are steadily working on their facility and exhibits, but are still a ways away from opening to the public.

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Knightdale’s New Ladder

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Factory photo of Knightdale’s new and sharp-looking ladder. 2021 Pierce Enforcer Ascendant, 1500/500/107-foot. Third for the town[1], following a 1973 Ford/Pierce Telesqurt acquired in 2002, and a 1997 Pierce Quantum rear-mount added in 2009. Photo source. 

[1] Two other aerials served the Knightdale Volunteer FD, back in its day, a 1991 E-One rear-mount 75-foot quint, and a 1975 Mack/Maxim/Hamerly mid-mount added in 1999. The Knightdale Volunteer FD became Eastern Wake FD in 2003, which merged with the town in 2020. Read those histories. 

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How Often Did Raleigh Rescue Transport Patients?

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February 2021
Updated posting with call totals for 1955, call data for 1975 and 1976, and other information.

September 3, 2016
The Raleigh Emergency Rescue Squad was created in 1953. It was comprised of civilian volunteers and fire department drivers, and they operated equipment that was housed at the downtown fire station. (Their gear was initially funded by city, county, and private donations. They also subsequently received a monthly stipend from the county.) The squad responded in both the city and the county, but was not intended to compete with local ambulance services. They served primarily as a technical rescue unit, and also transporting patients when ambulances were not available in the city.

The volunteer component diminished over the early years (they primarily assisted with body recovery efforts in local lakes and rivers), and the rescue squad was soon operated exclusively by fire department members. A second rescue was added in 1975. After Wake County EMS was organized in 1976, “Raleigh rescue” served as their back-up, transporting patients when no county ambulance was available.

They also functioned as a private ambulance service, transporting firefighters in circumstances that included injuries at fires, injuries on duty, transfers between home and hospital, and even transporting family members.

How frequently were patients transported? As a sampling of official records finds (see below), they transported a few times a month in 1960 (one rescue), as many as 30 times a month by 1975 (two rescues), about the same amount in 1980, down to some ten a month in 1990 (two rescues), and just a couple times a year around 2001 (two rescues).

They stopped transporting patients around 2001. The reasons included that the department was no longer required to maintain that capability as part of their EMT-D requirement, and likely the very low call volume.

Still looking for more data and more oral histories. Will update as found.  


Credits, left to right, top to bottom: News & Observer, City of Raleigh, City of Raleigh, Jeff Harkey, Lee Wilson

The Data Continue reading ‘How Often Did Raleigh Rescue Transport Patients?’ »

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Raleigh Rescue Early History

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Notes on the early history of the Raleigh Emergency Rescue Squad. This is a placeholder posting which will be updated and expanded over time. Related: How Often Did Raleigh Rescue Transport Patients?

See expanded version of this history and other information at https://legeros.com/ralwake/raleigh/history/rescue

1947 – First proposal for a Raleigh rescue squad.  

1952 [?] – Creation of a Raleigh rescue squad started. 

1953 – Rescue squad organized, with volunteer members, with boats and a trailer and other equipment, funding for vehicles requested, and soon assisting with searches for drowning victims. They are based out of Station 1.

1954 – June – Panel van received by this time. Assigned a full-time fire department driver.

1954 – June 13 – Fire department answered a heart attack call on West Whitaker Mill Road at 7:45 a.m. on June 13, 1954. This is likely the first recorded call for the rescue squad.  

1954 – By July 16, 1954, Rescue 1 has been placed in service at Station 1 with a 1954 GMC panel van. 

1955 – November 3 – Civil Defense heavy-rescue truck delivered.  

1959 – August 23 – Rescue squad volunteer member Robert L. Battle, 45, drowns in the Cape Fear River, while assisting with a search for a missing boater, who was missing after his fishing boat overturned the day before, about two miles above the Buckhorn Dam. Battle was a Wake County Sheriff’s Deputy of four years, and previous a city police officer. 

1962 – May 23 – News story includes this organizational information. Squad is comprised of “some 25 to 30 volunteers, led by Raleigh firemen Harold Jones and Ralph Hailey,” and who “serve only on the Rescue Squad, each heading a 12-hour shift.” Twelve other squad members are firemen who “serve on the Rescue Squad in their off-duty hours. Other members of the squad are railroad dispatchers, bus drivers, insurance men, store clerks…” The squad answers “a hundred or more calls a year.” 

1962 – May 23 – By this time, squad equipment includes two complete scuba diving sets.

1966 – August 18 – Chevy C360 panel van purchased as new Rescue 1. Source: Legeros apparatus register. 

1974 – July 1 – By this time, two rescue units are in service, with additional allocated positions.  

1974 – October __ – Rescue 1 receives 1975 Chevy Silverado/Murphy ambulance. Purchase partially funded with matching federal Civil Defense funds. Source: Legeros apparatus register.

1974 – October 28 – Rescue 9 placed in service with 1974 Chevy Silverado/Murphy ambulance. Same notes as above.

1975 – April – Two rescue boats and trailers received as donations.

1975 – July – Two new outboard motors received as donations.

1976 – April-May – City Council adopts plan for ambulance service jointly funded by the city and the county. Includes use of both city rescue squads. Plan is abandoned and county forms own EMS service.

1976 – July 28 – Rescue 1 moved to Station 3.

1978 – July 24 – Rescue 3 moved to Station 12 and Rescue 9 moved to Station 14.

1982 – February 1 – Rescue 12 moved to Station 7, Rescue 14 moved to Station 6. 

1985 – March 6 – Rescue units plan to take over assist invalid calls [from which agency?]. 

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Meet Raleigh’s New Firefighters – January 2021

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Meet Raleigh’s new (probationary) firefighters, who graduated on January 13, 2021, from Recruit Academy 45.  The twenty-seven week academy started in April 2020. Their training included a number of modifications due to COVID conditions, including condensing the program from 32 to 27 weeks. The graduation was also held outdoors, for the first-time in decades and maybe ever. At the event, an empty chair was present for instructor Lt. Herman Ellis, who died off-duty in a motor-vehicle accident on January 3. See photos of the graduation. 

The Graduates

James W. Bullock III
Tyler N. Bunce
Camden T. Duchesneau
Dillon R. Eckert
Stephen B. Garner
Corey A. Joe
Matthew J. Knight
Dylan M. Lawrence
Alexandra D. Lee
Robert E. Lugo
William A. Margolin
Christian Mejia
Lucila M. Vargas
Nicholas J. Mullin
Michael D. Owens
Bryan J. Parker
David D. Power
Derick Rodriguez
Courtney S. Rosenkranz
Justin C. Ruffin
Noah S. Scalish
Dylan P. Short
Troy R. Swanzey
Joseph B. Tindal
Anna F. Wellborn
Andrew C. T. Williford
Elijah J. York


Photo courtesy Raleigh Fire Department

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Wake County Fire Commission Meeting – Thursday, January 21, 2021

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January 23
This meeting is a must-listen for anyone interested in the nuts ‘n’ bolts of the county fire service, as members received the long-cooking recommendations for a county-wide standard of fire service response, for all departments serving unincorporated areas, e.g. all except Raleigh and RDU.

Was two years in the making by the commission’s Administrative Subcommittee, as a Long Range Planning initiative. And fully data-driven, to arrive at objectives for response performance for structure fires, EMS calls, technical rescue, and haz-mat. The fire commission members received the report, the recommendations, and will smoke things over until the next meeting(s), for discussion and decision.

Also at the meeting, two other inputs were presented. First, the results of the community engagement survey. Total 1,384 responses from those living in those unincorporated areas. Second, a neat study from NCSU that presents ideas for optimized fire station locations for protecting those unincorporated areas, and notably looking forward ten years. (The study was received as “another tool in the toolbox” as needed for the commission to use in any long-range planning.)

One important note, noted in the meeting, the NCSU study has some points to be tweaked, to reflect such recent developments as Wendell Station 3 now operating and the merger of Eastern Wake with Knightdale.

Listen to the audio file on the county site.

Read the studies and accompanying materials here, which we’ve organized with pre-pended labels: https://legeros.com/blog/docs/wcfc/2021-01

January 19
The Wake County Fire Commission will hold a virtual version of its regular scheduled meeting on Thursday, January 21, 2021. The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m. 

The agenda and meeting documents are below. Information on submitting public comments and access for viewing/listening are posted on the Wake County Public Meetings Calendar. 

View Meeting Documents

Agenda

  • Meeting Called to Order: Chairman Keith McGee
    • Invocation
    • Pledge of allegiance
    • Roll of Members Present
  • Items of Business
    • Annual Election of Chair and Vice Chair – Director Alford
    • Adoption of Minutes for November 19, 2020 Meeting
    • Approval of Agenda
  • Public Comments:
    • Comments emailed in from the public, as directed on the public advertisement on the County Meeting Calendar prior to noon on January 21, 2021. Any comments received will be emailed to the Fire Commission prior to the meeting. Depending on the number of comments received, the comments may be read by Director Alford at this time.
  • Regular Agenda
    • Introduction of County Commissioner Representatives on Fire Commission
    • FY20 Fund Balance Presentation – John Stephenson
    • ITRE/ORED Study – Darrell Alford
    • Community Engagement Survey – Darrell Alford
    • Administrative Committee Long Range Plan Presentation – Tim Herman
  • Information Agenda
    • Fire Tax Financial Report – Michael Gammon
    • Standing Committee Updates
      Administrative
      Apparatus
      Budget
      Communications
      Equipment
      Facility
      Health & Wellness
      Training
      Volunteer Recruitment & Retention Committee
    • Chair Report
    • Fire Services Report
  • Other Business
  • Adjournment – Next Meeting – March 18, 2021
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Raleigh Run Numbers – 2020

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Here are the numbers for the Raleigh Fire Department in 2020, unit runs and total calls. See prior years, from 1993 forward, in this PDF document.

Total Calls – 42,144
Total Runs – 62,725
 
E1 – 1,393
E2 – 2,084
E3 – 2,403
E4 – 1,245
E5 – 1,003
E6 – 991
Sq7 – 2,697
E8 – 1,918
E9 – 1,761
E10 – 1,866
E11 – 2,691
E12 – 2,499
E13 – 1,374
Sq14 – 1,688
E15 – 2,273
E16 – 2,035
E17 – 1,396
E18 – 1,180
E19 – 2,490
E20 – 1,765
E21 – 1,856
E22 – 1,476
E23 – 869
E24 – 952
E25 – 812
E26 – 1,243
E27 – 865
E28 – 1,124
E29 – 333

L1 – 1,162
L2  – 2,406
L3 – 1,273 (now L14, starting Dec 2020)
L4 – 2,142
L5 – 583
L6 – 425 (now L23, starting Dec 2020)
L7 – 1,113
L8 – 1,599
L9 – 501
 
R1 – 1,207

B1 – 565
B2 – 668
B3 – 640
B4 – 398
B5 – 911

Car 20 – 135 (platoon division chief)
Car 402 – 203 (investigator)

Air 1 – 62
Air 2 – 95
 
HM1 – 53
HM2 – 34
HM3 – 53
HM4 – 22
HM5 – 47
 
MP1 – 22
MP2 – 9
MP3 – 15

USAR 801 – 35

Busiest Engines

2,697 – Sq7
2,691 – E11
2,499 – E12
2,490 – E19
2,403 – E3
2,273 – E15
2,084 – E2
2,035 – E16
1,918 – E8
1,866 – E10

Busiest Ladders

2,406 – L2
2,142 – L4
1,599 – L8

Busiest Battalion Chief

911 – B5

Busiest Rescue

Duh

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Two Alarms on Navaho Drive

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Two alarms were struck on Tuesday, December 29, 2020, at 833 Navaho Drive. Dispatched 4:39 a.m. as vehicle fire for Engine 11. Upgraded with structure fire response for E9, E15, E16, S14, L2, L1, B1 added.

Ladder 2 was first-arriving with fire showing in the rear of a two-story apartment building, garden-style, apartment building with eleven units and 11,770. Built 1968. Fire was extending from a burning pick-up truck to the outside of the building, and in the area of a gas meter.

Initial fire companies worked on searching the impacted units, and evacuating the entire resident. Due to limited access and a long supply lines from hydrants, Engine 9 supplied lines for the initial fire attack, with Engine 11 nurse feeding, until the water supply was established. 

A second alarm was requested, which added E12, E21, E19, L8, B4, B3.  Plus working fire units C20, C402, and Air 1. Plus a box alarm for EMS, for displaced persons.

Engine 9, Engine 11, and Ladder 2 remained on scene, due to a natural gas leak that continued to burn, after the building fire was extinguished. 


Mike Legeros photos

 

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