How to Easily Monitor Raleigh City Council Minutes & Agendas… And News Releases

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Here’s an easy means of monitoring Raleigh City Council minutes and agendas, and/or news releases for mention of your favorite topics. Say, the fire department:

  1. Sign up for the MyRaleigh Subscriptions service.
  2. Select such options as City Council, News Releases, and NewsCor.
  3. City Council minutes will arrive as email messages with links to Word documents. Click the links to open the documents, and use the FIND feature in Word to search for such words as “fire”.
  4. City Council agendas will be announced via email. You’ll have to navigate to the linked page, and then browse for the necessary link, typically labeled “First Tues Regular and Evening Sessions” or such. (These emails don’t contain direct document links. Mildly user unfriendly.)
  5. New releases will be linked in a weekly (Friday) compilation titled City of Raleigh Newsletter.
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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.

FIREFIGHTERS 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 [Internet Archive link: https://web.archive.org/web/20160624025547/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 in 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 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 quite a few negative reactions 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 writer 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 because 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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