With Hurricane Mathew dumping up to 16 inches of inches of rain over parts of NC, Raleigh and Wake County was flooded with 9 inches of rain and strong winds, resulting in multiple calls for wires down, drivers stuck in flooded roadways, and trees down over the roadway.

As the winds increased, so did the call volume throughout the county.  Wake New Hope Fire Department answered 18 calls for service between noon and 11pm, including one for a tree that had crashed into an occupied house on Wedgewood Dr.

During the storm, Station 1 maintained staffing for Engine 1 & Rescue 6, and Station 2 had crews staffing Engine 4, Rescue 14, Brush 7, Car 20 & Car 3.  Deputy Chief Price set up a mini Emergency Operations Center at station 2, coordinating all the calls in our fire district, as well as updating the County EOC and emergency management with updates regarding roads that were blocked by downed wires or flooded out roadways.

Thankfully, no major injuries were reported by any of our residents, and Duke energy crews are working diligently to restore electricity to those who are without power.

At 5:19pm, RWCC dispatched New Hope Stations 1 & 2 to a reported structure fire at 3628 Manly Farm Rd. New Hope Engine 4 arrived first, with New Hope Car 2 (Deputy Chief Price) right behind them, reporting a working fire in the rear of the structure, stretching an attack line to the reach of the structure.. Tanker 10 arrived next and established a water supply with Roseville E151 & Tanker 9.

Due to the quick knockdown by E4’s crew, Chief Price marked the fire under control, returning all 3 EMS units and all FD units not on scene, holding with 2 engines and 2 tankers.

Crews remained on scene for under 90 minutes completing overhaul before returning to service.

1755hr – Shortly after clearing from a medical emergency, New Hope Engine 1 was dispatched into Wendell for a reported structure fire.  Wendell &  Eastern Wake units arrived on scene, reporting heavy fire from the structure.  A tanker task force was requested from Johnston county, bringing units from Archer Lodge & Corinth Holders to the scene.  Engine 1’s crew assisted the first arriving units with an aggressive fire attack, before the Wendell Fire Chief evacuated the structure and all units initiated defensive operations.  Engine 1’s crew operated for under 2 hours before returning to service.

Photos courtesy of @RaleighScan

At 12:03pm, RWCC Dispatched New Hope Engine 1 and Rescue 14 to 7809 Louisburg Rd, for a reported motor vehicle crash involving a USPS mail truck.  Engine 1 arrived first, reporting no entrapment, and began assessing the occupants for injuries.  Rescue 14 arrived shortly after, and assumed traffic control duties and controlling vehicle hazards, as one of the vehicles was leaking fuel. Both injured parties were turned over to Eastern Wake EMS 64 and Wake County EMS 10.  New Hope units operated at the scene for under 1 hour.

We will be offering the Traffic Incident Management (TIMS) class on Tuesday August 16th & August 23rd, from 6pm to 10pm.  Attending both days is required for those who want to complete the course.

This is a required class in order to become certified as a Technical Rescuer, Firefighter and/or Driver/Operator effective 1/1/2016.

This course is designed to establish the foundation for and promote consistent training of all responders to achieve the three objectives of the TIM National Unified Goal: responder safety; safe, quick clearance from incidents; and prompt, reliable, interoperable communications. This course will familiarize fire and rescue personnel with the purpose of the Strategic Highway Research Program 2 (SHRP 2) and National TIM (Traffic Incident Management) Responder Training Program and how it relates specifically to North Carolina. Participants will learn to recognize and identify the dangers encountered by emergency responders working in or near traffic.

If you have any questions or would like to attend, please contact info@wakenewhopefire.com