At 1750, RW911 dispatched a residential structure fire at 1613 Honeysuckle Rd, in Station 1’s primary response area.  New Hope Engine 1 responded immediately, arriving a minute behind Raleigh Engine 15.  Crews reported a working fire with heavy smoke and fire from division 1, on both the B & C sides.  Engine 15’s crew stretched an attack line to the front door, encountering heavy fire in the kitchen, while Engine 1 & New Hope Tanker 11’s crew assisted with setting up a water supply and checking for extension.   The fire was marked quickly under control, and crews remained on location for the investigation.  Once the investigation was completed, New Hope Rescue 14 handled salvage and overhaul duties.  With New Hope Car 1 as the incident commander, all crews returned to service in 2 hours.

At 2151, units were called back to 1613 Honeysuckle Rd.  First arriving units reported heavy smoke and fire coming from the 2nd floor of the C side of the structure.  Crews again made entry, and found two room and contents fires.  With the fire knocked down, New Hope Car 1 reduced the working fire assignment to Raleigh Engine 15, New Hope Engine 1, Engine 4, Tanker 11, Tanker 10, & Rescue 14. The cause is being investigated by the Wake County Fire Marshals office, and units returned to service in under 3 hours.

0700hrs – A night of freezing rain brought icy conditions on the road across Wake County and the rest of the Triangle. Crews from Engine 1, Engine 4, and Rescue 14 were running most of the night to multiple crashes on I-540, including two separate overturned vehicles by Capital Blvd & I 540.

Thankfully, there were no serious injuries.  The slick roads will remain until at least 9am, so if you can stay off the roads until the ice melts, please do so. According to WRAL, the weather forecast for today is a high of 58 degrees, which should result in all the ice melting by noon.

Thursday night was a busy training night for the crews at Station 2. FF/EMT Green ran a training class for our 6 Junior Firefighters. The night started with the Juniors practicing some basic hole rolls, and ended the night with a game of Rescue Tool Jenga.  We use Rescue Tool Jenga to practice controlled movement with the large hydraulic spreaders, where participants remove a 4×4 from the box crib and and place it on the top of the stack

After we cleaned up from the game of Jenga, Captain Peed set up Billy Goldfeder’s FDIC presentation entitled “They Are Us: Fireground SizeUp, Command, Control, Accountability, and Survival” on the training room projector.  We all agreed that it was a great presentation, with a great message: The lessons learned are taught with the resolve to honor those involved (who lost their life) by not repeating fireground history.

This morning, a crew of firefighters left Wake County to relieve the Wildfire Strike Force that departed last Monday for Western North Carolina. Captain Rigda, Firefighter/EMT Martinez, and Firefighter/EMT Green joined firefighters from all over the county for the trip out west, using a bus provided by the Raleigh Fire Department. They will be assisting in structural fire protection, in hopes of minimizing any damage to homes threatened by all the fires that have been affecting the western section of the state. The firefighters who are joining the task force will be working 15 hour days, and will be returning next Wednesday from their deployment. We hope all those who are assisting out west make it home safe and sound.

At 1546, New Hope Station 2 was dispatched to 2061 Old Crews Rd for a reported structure fire.  New Hope Engine 4 and Car 2 responded on the initial assignment, as did Engine 1 from Station 1.  Car 2 arrived first, reporting a 1200 Square Foot residence with smoke showing, as well as requested EMS to expedite due to 1 occupant who was burned.  Upon further investigation, he reported a working kitchen fire, and had Engine 4 lay in and stretch an attack line to knock down the fire. Wendell Engine 115 arrived next and assisted with the extinguishment, while crews from New Hope Rescue 14 & Tanker 10 ventilated the structure.  Rolesville Pumper 153 and Eastern Wake Pumper 2 performed salvage and overhaul.

Although there was severe smoke damage to the kitchen, the bulk of the fire was contained to the area above the stove.  New Hope units returned to service in under 2 hours.