On Wednesday afternoon, a strong storm came through Wake County, bringing heavy rain and lighting to the Eastern part of the county. At 1657, Wake New Hope Engine 282 was dispatched as the closest engine to 7400 Birchshire Dr, in the city of Raleigh, for a structure fire secondary to a lightning strike. New Hope Car 1 (Chief Price) also responded, and upon his arrival upgraded the assignment to a working fire due to smoke showing from the attic division of a 2 story private dwelling. Raleigh FD Engine 27 arrived and stretched a line to the attic, making a quick knockdown. Engine 282 arrived next and provided support for E27s crew during the extinguishment.
New Hope’s units were quickly cleared from the scene, as RW911 dispatched Engine 281 as the closest engine to a structure fire on the 3500 block of Tarbell Ct. New Hope Car 1 & E282 responded to assist, with Car 1 arriving behind Raleigh Rescue 1 to find a working fire, with flames showing from division B, and heavy smoke showing from the roof. Raleigh Fire Ladder 8 arrived next, and deployed an attack line, with Engine 282 laying a 400 ft supply line to the ladder. Engine 281 arrived next and assisted with extinguishment.
Because of our coverage area, Wake New Hope FD member routinely train with our neighboring stations at the Raleigh Fire Department and have developed a great working relationship between the agencies. This collaboration was demonstrated by how smoothly operations ran at these two recent structure fires.
July 29, 2020 – Lightning strikes cause back to back structure fires for Engines 282 and 281
