Raleigh Receives Federal Grant for Fire Sprinkler Systems for Fire Stations 2 and 15

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The city has received a $151,155 grant from the federal government, to install fire sprinkler systems at Station 2 and Station 15.

Both of the facilities are part of a multi-year, multi-million dollar project to update fourteen older (legacy) fire stations. See page 14 of last year’s five-year strategic planning document (PDF) for more details. (Really need a dedicated blog posting on that project, for ease of linking. Will work on that!)

From the minutes (DOC) of the Raleigh City Council meeting of June 7, 2016.

FIREFIGHTER S GRANT FEDERAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY MANAGER AUTHORIZED TO EXECUTE GRANT; BUDGET AMENDED

The City has been awarded an Assistance to Firefighters Grant for the design and installation of fire sprinkler systems for Fire Stations 2 and 15. These facilities, which are part of a multi-year project to renovate legacy fire stations, were built in compliance with 1968 State Building Codes, neither of which contained a mandate for fire sprinkler systems. Current codes mandate that occupancies classified as residential providing accommodations for overnight stay shall have an automatic sprinkler system installed.

This grant opportunity contributes to the City s commitment to provide essential services, which include life safety of occupants and firefighters, confinement and extinguishment of the fire, property conservation, and reduction of adverse environmental impacts. A budget amendment in the amount of $151,555 is necessary to appropriate the grant funding; the required 10 percent local matching funds will be transferred administratively. Accounting detail is included with the agenda packet. The grant application was administratively approved by the grants committee on January 7, 2016.

Recommendation: Authorize the City Manager to execute all required grant documentation and authorize a budget amendment in the amount of $151,555. Upheld on Consent Agenda Baldwin/Branch 8 ayes.

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Garner’s New Engine 1

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The Garner Fire Department yesterday received their new Engine 1, a 2016 Pierce Impel pumper-tanker 1250/1000. It will replace a 2012 Pierce Saber pumper-tanker. By my count, this is their sixteenth Pierce fire engine, since the delivery of a 1984 Pierce Dash pumper 1000/700.

The new engine is the fourth of four Pierce Impel pumper tankers recently purchased by Wake County, as part of apparatus and vehicle replacements for this fiscal year (which ends on June 30). The other three were delivered in November to Stony Hill, Wake New Hope, and Wendell. See Blog Archives posting.

Photographer Lee Wilson has been following the progress of Garner’s engine, beginning with its arrival at Atlantic Emergency Services’ Pierce service center in Fayetteville last week. See his photos.

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Eight Line of Duty Deaths So Far This Year

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We learned on Sunday of the passing of Severn Fire Chief Kevin Britt, who died on Saturday after suffering a medical emergency at his home, after responding to a motor-vehicle collision. See this [FireNews.net] story as well as his obituary [link expired:http://www.rrspin.com/obituaries/item/12581-david-kevin-britt.html]. He’s the eighth line of duty death in North Carolina thus far this year, and third this month.

Later this morning, Firefighter Joshua Warren will be buried in Lincoln County. His body was escorted to the church in a procession yesterday. He was a member of Alexis, Lucia-Riverbend, and East Lincoln fire departments, and died on Thursday while exercising on-duty at a local school. See WCCB story (which has a browser warning about its security).

Here’s a brief recap of the eight fallen firefighters. All were volunteer members of their departments.

Date Name Age Department Cause Narrative
1/12 Joshua “Josh” Mequaine Woods 24 Siler City FD Vehicle Collision While responding to an emergency call in his personal vehicle, Firefighter Woods lost control of his car and crashed. He died from his injuries. Source: USFA. See also: Obituary [link expired:http://main.pughfuneralhome.com/tribute/details/9762/Joshua-Josh-Woods/obituary.html].
2/2 James “Jim” Ronald Varnell 53 Bakertown VFD, Elm City Medical Firefighter Varnell was attending training on Webb Lake Road. As he prepared to leave, he became ill. He was treated at the scene and transported to the hospital, where he passed away. Source: USFA. See also: Obituary.
4/30 Richard Sheltra 20 Pineville-Morrow VFD, Pineville Caught/ Trapped Firefighter Sheltra died from injuries sustained while operating on the interior of a commercial structure fire at a strip mall. Source: USFA. See also: FireNews.net article (obituary and arrangements) [FireNews.net article] (incident).
5/7 John Morris Davis Jr. 45 Kenly VFD Cardiac Firefighter Davis experienced chest pains after assisting with extrication at a motor vehicle accident at Princeton Kenly and Hinnant Edgerton roads While en route to the hospital, he went into cardiac arrest. Resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful and he passed away. Source: USFA.
5/12 Prentice “Jay” Tyndall 45 Hugo VFD, Grifton Medical Near noon on the day after he responded to a fire call as a driver/operator, Firefighter Tyndall called his wife and complained of severe head pain. He was visiting a business and asked them to call 911. He was transported to Wayne Memorial Hospital, where a brain bleed was discovered. He was flown to Vidant Medical in Greenville, NC, where a procedure was done to relieve pressure on his brain. He was then flown to Duke University Hospital in Durham for further treatment. At Duke, surgery was performed in attempt to stop the brain bleed, but he succumbed to his injury on May 12, 2016. Source: USFA. See also: Obituary.
6/6 Bradley Steven Long 28 Sherrills Ford-Terrell FD, Sherrills Ford Drowning Captain Long and one other diver were searching for a missing 29-year-old man in Lake Norman when they had an emergency. A third diver entered the water after a Mayday was called. While the two other divers eventually surfaced, Captain Long never resurfaced. He was later recovered and pronounced dead at the scene. Rescue crews had been searching Lake Norman for the missing man a day prior to the emergency involving Captain Long, who was also eventually recovered. Source: USFA. See also: Obituary.
6/16 Joshua Warren 34 Alexis FD Medical Firefighter Warren was on duty and exercising at East Lincoln Middle School when he collapsed while jogging around a track that morning. He was treated at the scene and transported to CHS-Lincoln Medical Center, where he passed away. Source: [FireNews.net], WCCB (which has a browser warning about its security).
6/18 David Kevin Britt 54 Severn VFD Medical Chief Britt suffered at a medical emergency at his home about midnight, shortly after responding to a motor-vehicle collision. He was Fire Chief of Severn VFD, and had been a member for 38 years. Sources: [FireNews.net] and obituary.
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Hose & Nozzle Stories, 1967 – Wake Fireman Breaks Leg, Winston-Salem Fire-Police Vehicles Damaged, etc.

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Random page of stories from the May-June 1969 issue of Hose & Nozzle magazine. Wake [County] Fireman Breaks Leg; Thomasville [Fire] Truck Involved in Wreck; Two Cleveland Firemen Injured; Winston-Salem Fire-Police Vehicles Damaged.

Winston-Salem fire police, you say? Here’s a blog posting about that entity, which was created in in late 1957. Looks like they were active until at least 1969! Learn more about H&N magazine.

Click once or twice to enlarge:

2016-06-13-hn

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Raleigh Fire and Police Want Higher Salaries

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Last week, on Tuesday, June 7, Raleigh firefighters, police officers, and friends, family, and supporters met at the Municipal Building on Hargett Street, in advance of a public hearing on the proposed budget for FY17. (See the budget documents.)

They came with signs and matching shirts (for fire)–“would you do this job 56 hours a week for $11.22 per hour” and “we can’t live in the city we protect”–and conducted a peaceful demonstration about their salaries. They want higher pay, and say firefighters and police officers deserve higher raises than the 3 to 3.5 percent increase in the City Manager’s proposed budget.

Speaking at a press conference held before the hearing, representatives from the Raleigh Professional Fire Fighters Association and the Raleigh Police Protective Association announced that they would jointly submit proposals for a 15 percent raise over the two years. They also addressed other issues, such as low starting pay in comparatively sized fire departments around the nation, as well as far smaller departments in Wake County.

Some 200 firefighters and police officers and supporters attended. Due to the large number of attendees, two conference rooms were opened on the third-floor for remote viewing. The hearing was also broadcast to a pair of television screens outside the council chambers on the second and first floor lobbies.

The spokesmen for the RPFFA and RPPA addressed City Council early into the budget hearing. This live blog recap from the Independent Weekly has a summary of their statements. Or you can watch the session as recorded by the Raleigh Television Network.

See also these news stories from WRAL, WTVD, and News & Observer[*]. And here are some photos from the event by Mike Legeros.

[*] Link now broken, http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/crime/article82335182.html

Want to express your support? Contact your local City Council representative. Their e-mail addresses are listed at the bottom of this web page.

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Comparing Numbers of Minority Firefighters in North Carolina’s Largest Cities

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The Fayetteville Observer today includes this story by Andrew Barksdale about the Fayetteville Fire Department’s efforts to improve the number of minority firefighters. Solid story, though invoking a quite a few negative reaction among readers, at least on the paper’s Facebook posting of the story. (Yeah, yeah, never read the comments after a story. It’ll just ruin your mood.)

Included is an interesting data table, comparing minority firefighters among the state’s largest cities:

Largest cities in NC White firefighters Black firefighters Hispanic firefighters
Charlotte 85% 11.5% 2.2%
Raleigh 81% 15.1% 2.4%
Greensboro 77% 16% 3%
Durham 76% 20% 1.8%
Winston-Salem 70.4% 26.1% 2.7%
Fayetteville 90% 3.2% 2.9%
Cary 94% 2.7% 2.2%
Wilmington 89% 6.3% 4%
High Point 85% 9.4% 0%

What are the demographic percentages for those cities? Let’s add those, with sources citied:

Largest cities in NC White firefighters White Population Black firefighters Black Population Hispanic firefighters Hispanic Population Demographics
Source
Charlotte 85% 50% 11.5% 35% 2.2% 13.1% US Gov (2010)
Raleigh 81% 57.5% 15.1% 29.3% 2.4% 11.4% US Gov (2010)
Greensboro 77% 48.4% 16% 40.6% 3% 7.5% US Gov (2010)
Durham 76% 53% 20% 38.6% 1.8% 13.4% US Gov (2014)
Winston-Salem 70.4% 77.4% 26.1% 13.2% 2.7% 17.4% US Gov (2014)
Fayetteville 90% 45.7% 3.2% 41.9% 2.9% 10.1% US Gov (2010)
Cary 94% 73.1% 2.7% 8% 2.2% 7.7% US Gov (2010)
Wilmington 89% 73.5% 6.3% 19.9% 4% 6.1% US Gov (2010)
High Point 85% 53.6% 9.4% 33.0% 0% 8.5% US Gov (2010)

How fresh is the originating data, for the various fire departments? Don’t know. Let’s presume the write contacted each of the fire departments, for the latest, greatest data.

How does the data compare with fire departments nationally, such as the nation’s largest departments? Can’t readily find any “one chart” comparison. Would like to see one, though. Maybe readers know of such a thing.

Nationally, the NFPA maintains statistics on firefighting occupations by women and race, with the latest data from 2012:

Year / Total White firefighters Black firefighters Hispanic firefighters
295,000 (2012) Below 82.4% 7.7% 9.9%
295,600 (average 2008-2012) Below 83.4% 7.2% 99.4%

Note: Why “below” for the white firefighter percentage? Because there are likely other races computed in the total, that aren’t listed in the NFPA report.

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Articulated All-Terrain Aerial Platform Fire Truck From South Africa

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Lee Wilson found this one, and shared on social media. Would you believe a converted Caterpillar 740B articulated all-terrain construction vehicle converted into a heavy-duty fire truck complete with aerial platform? Cobra Petro Projects built the thing which is believed to be a world’s first. (At least with the aerial platform added. We’ve seen similar trucks in decades past with just water or water/foam capabilities, such as used at airports.)

Carries 21,000 liters (5547 gallons) of water that incorporates an ARFF foam system. The Bronto SkyLift platform can extend nearly 45 meters (147 feet). Or reach a vertical height of about 28 meters (91 feet). The pre-piped nozzle can flow 2,900 LPM (766 GPM).

The platform is powered from the truck’s diesel engine, while the pumps operate off the hoist hydraulic system. Other features include an on-board fire suppression system (!). Gross weight is about 70 tons.

Built for Kumba Iron Ore’s Sishen mine, which is located near the town of Kathu in the Northern Cape Province. (One of the largest open pit mines in the world, says Google.) Pictures below from the Cobra Petro web page. More detailed information from this Modern Mining magazine story. See also this CPHA magazine story (PDF), which has a few additional photos.

Click to slightly enlarge:

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Cary Fire Chief Changes in 1966 & 1967

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Found a pair of Hose & Nozzle magazine issues from early 1967, that tell about the fire chief changes in Cary during the time. Editorial notes are interspersed:

March-April 1967:

Matthews Named Chief at Cary

Retired RALEIGH Fire Captain [wrong, was Asst. Chief, see below] Lee Matthews has been named acting chief of the Cary Fire Department.

Town manager L. L. Lane said Matthews, a Cary resident for many years, “took the job reluctantly be cause he really was enjoying retirement…but came to help us out of a jam and is doing a fine job of running things for us. He’s helping us get reorganized.”

Matthews is filling a vacancy created by the department of Chief J. W. Ward [who] resigned in mid-January after being on the job less than three months. Lane said it was a “regular resignation.” Ward succeeded Don Tripp, who resigned last October for “personal reasons.” Both Tripp and Ward have moved away from Cary.

Ed. notes:

R. Lee Matthews retired from Raleigh as an Assistant Fire Chief in 1963. He had thirty-seven years of service. He was appointed on January 21, 1967. He served for four months and twenty days. See notes below.

Don Tripp is a new name for Mr. Blogger. He’ll add to his list of Wake County fire chiefs past ‘n’ present (pdf).

May-June 1967:

Ayscue Named Cary Fire Chief

Frank Ayscue, 24, who served five years with the Henderson Fire Department, is Cary’s new fire chief.

Ayscue replaces Lee Matthews, retired officer of the Raleigh Fire Department, who had acted as interim chief since the resignation of Chief J. W. Ward.

Ed. notes:

Clarence Frank Ayscue was appointed on May 1, 1967, and served until July 15, 1968, when he was hired as a firefighter for the City of Raleigh. He retired from the department as a Senior Firefighter in 1989.

Cary’s first paid fire chief was Calvin Beck, who served from 1963 to 1966. He was followed by Don Tripp, as noted above, and then John W. Ward, who was appointed on October 15, 1966.

After Chief Ayscue, the department was led by John L. Dew (1968-69), Billy Henderson (1969-71), Terry Edmundson (1971-75), and then Ned Perry (1975-93), a former Raleigh Fire Captain. Here’s a prior blog post about the RFD/CFD command connection.

Following Chief Perry was Wayne House (1993-2002) and Allan Cain (2003-present). See also my outdated CFD historical timeline.

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Raleigh & Wake County Fire Station News & Updates

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What s happening with fire station construction and/or planning around Raleigh and Wake County?

Here’s your spring 2016 update, for both municipal and county departments. Sources are direct queries to nearly every Fire Chief in the county, or their staff. Plus sundry budget documents or news stories. Thanks all for answering my questions. Signed, Planning Geek.

Note: Omitted are those fire departments with no news to report, or changes planned.

Apex

  • Station 5 – Under construction at intersection of Apex Barbecue Road and Kelly Road. Completion expected by end of calendar year.
  • Station 6 – Need for future fire station identified in northwest Apex, e.g. west of Interstate 540 and north of Highway 64.

Bay Leaf – See Northwest Wake County

Cary

  • Station 9 – Planned for 1427 Walnut Street, land owned by town, site of an unused church building. Funding proposed for coming budget year.
  • Station 10 – Planned for 2495 O Kelly Chapel Road in Chatham County. Land purchased last year. Funding proposed for FY20 and FY21.
  • Projected for future growth are these locations, with planned funding in FY22-FY27:
  • Station 11 – White Oak Church Road
  • Station 12 – West Lake/Middle Creek
  • Station 13 – Lewter Shop Road at Highway 751
  • Station 14 – Pleasant Grove Church Road at the airport
  • Station 15 – Ernest Jones Road and Mt. Pisgah Church Road.

See related blog posting.

Durham Highway

Station 2, which is collocated with Raleigh Station 23, has been determined as a needed station by ISO. The unmanned station (for DHFD) has always been recognized by OSFM, but has not been funded by the county in recent years for facility or equipment upgrades. An ISO inspection determined that the station and its apparatus are necessary, as no other county stations can serve a number of non-hydrant areas within six miles. Newer (DHFD) apparatus is being sought for the station, to replace the 1976 tanker and 1992 pumper housed there.

Garner

Need for fifth fire station identified in the Highway 401 corridor. Coming development plans include a town-annexed site near Buffaloe Lanes for a community of some 800 homes, and several multi-family projects underway near 401 and Ten-Ten, also inside town limits. GFD in conversations with town and developers regarding a planned fire station. Expected time frame of three to five years. They re hoping for a joint fire, police, and EMS facility.

Fuquay-Varina

  • Station 2 – Expansion completed last year. The $1 million project added 2,800 square-feet to the facility including a new bay section, for use by Wake County EMS. They also renovated 1,600 square-feet to add living quarters for new crew members, and update the kitchen. See this N&O story[*] from 2014 about the project.
    [*] Link now broken, http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/southwest-wake-news/article10322699.html
  • Station 4 – Need for fourth fire station identified, to the north of town. Believe they ve been looking for landing a while now.

Morrisville

The proposed budget for FY17 includes a station location study, that assess opportunities to maximize ISO credit and improve services to the citizens, with a goal of improving the Town s ISO rating from Class 3 to Class 1. The study will review where fire service demands impact the Town and correlate to fire response times, and will help Town Council continue its discussions related to placement of Fire Station 3. Currently the town s third fire station is co-located at Cary Fire Station 7 on Carpenter Fire Station Road.

Northwest Wake County

Both Stony Hill and Bay Leaf fire departments have long-identified a need for another fire station in the northwestern quadrant of the county, notably in the area of Highway 50 and Boyce [Bridge] Road. There are 625 county citizens living in 14.8 square miles of unincorporated area, and more than five miles from a county fire station. They occupy 247 homes, and there s more growth coming. (Farther out often means bigger lots, which often means bigger homes.)

The station would also serve the highly-traveled Highway 50 corridor, as well as heavily-used Falls Lake boat ramps and surrounding areas. SHFD and BLFD respond to calls in that area, along with Creedmoor and Redwood from the neighboring counties. Responses time are obviously longer on the Wake County side, ranging from 10 to 21 minutes. (Time of day and commuter traffic can have a particularly dramatic impact.)

Bay Leaf took the lead in documenting the need, and submitted same as part of the expansion requests the FY17 budget.

Raleigh

Several station expansion or replacements:

  • Station 1 and Admin – Station 1 (Dawson Street) and Dillon Building offices (Martin Street) to be consolidated into single facility, planned mid-rise structure near intersection of Dawson and Lenoir streets. Multi-year funding, beginning in FY17. Newly prioritized project. Read blog post about the budget.
  • Station 2 – Major renovation, including expanded apparatus bays with rear entrance added. Starting in September.
  • Station 3 – Relocating to corner of Rock Quarry Road and MLK Jr. Boulevard. Land acquisition still underway.
  • Station 5 – Extensive interior renovation underway. Completed by October. Blog posts: April 8, March 6.
  • Station 6 – Rebuilt at same location. Likely starting in spring of 2017. Blog posts: March 20, March 11, October 9.
  • Station 11 – Major renovation, including new apparatus bays. Design work expected to start in the FY17.
  • Station 12 – Relocating to Bus Way and Poole Road. Construction starting soon.
  • Station 14 – Relocating to corner of Harding Road and Nancy Anne Drive. Design phase underway.
  • Station 30 – New station near corner of Wake Forest Road and Ronald Drive. Land acquisition underway.

These projects have been covered in past issues of the Raleigh Fire Department Newsletter, as well as sundry blog postings, a number of which are linked above.

Where does the city foresee future station locations? Needs have been assessed north of Sta 4/Sta 15, between Sta 7/Sta 21 (infill), south of Sta 22 (infill), south of Sta 25 (infill), east of Sta 26, and east of Sta 27. See page 26 of the fire department s five-year strategic plan (PDF).

That document also lists the planned schedule for station renovations, with design and construction funding spread over two budget years: Sta 10/Sta 15 (FY17, FY18), Sta 8/Sta 16 (FY18, FY19), Sta 9/Sta 17 (FY19, FY20), Sta 18/Sta 19 (FY20, FY21), Sta 4/Sta 20 (FY21, FY22), Sta 21/Sta 22 (FY22, FY23).

Rolesville

They’ve identified a need for three (!) future fire stations, due to rapid growth in their municipal and rural areas. (In April, Realtor.com said Rolesville was the seventh fastest growing town in the nation!) The fire department s been working to procure property, with the town paying its share of the projects. They re trying to get sites while they can still purchase property at a reasonable price. Time frame for these is TBD.

Planned locations:

West side – 4124 Burlington Mill Road, at a three-acre site purchased in April. This station s needed to accommodate the growth that the town s been experiencing. The town s municipal limits on the west side is the north side of Forestville Road, with the town border extending north to the Wake Forest town limits, and south past Highway 401. There are new subdivisions in that area, and several hundred more homes are proposed.

North side – Toward Averette Road and Highway 96. This area s inside a watershed and will remain mostly county. Meaning, no annexation by any town. That also means large home on large lots. This station will provide service to property owners outside the five-mile distance from Station 1, and ensure they get a Class 4 protection rating for their insurance. This location would serve northeastern Wake County residents to the county line.

South side – South of the new 401 bypass, and to cover the area between Rolesville, Hopkins, and Wendell fire districts. If the planned Little River Reservoir is built to the east, this fire station will help with response times to areas cut off by the reservoir. The south side station will also help with response times south of the bypass, and put fire units closer to the county s largest high school. Like the north side areas, much of this area is also watershed.

One note about Rolesville FD, they just finished their ISO inspection, and are proud to announce that they received a Class 3 in the town limits, and a 4/9s in the rural district. They’re also the largest single-station fire department in the county, protecting 32.88 square miles with one fire station.

Stony Hill

See Northwest Wake County

Wake Forest

Station 4 completed recently at 1505 Jenkins Road, and staffed with full-time engine company.

Wendell

New station planned in Wendell Falls, $150,000 budgeted in FY17 for planning and design costs. Land to be purchased after July 1, 2016. Site will be on Taylor Road (not built yet), off Wendell Falls Boulevard.

Zebulon

Bought land for a second station on Green Pace Road, about ten years ago. Currently reevaluating their needs and plans for a future fire station.

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