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.

The Eastern Wake County Fire Departments are standardizing their unit numbers, and as a result, we will be renumbering several of our apparatus. With our original station being numbered 28, all of our new assignments will utilize the “28” prefix going forward.

Our primary engine from Station 1, Engine 1, will now be referred to as Engine 281
Our primary engine from Station 2, Engine 4, will now be referred to as Engine 282
Our reserve/volunteer engine from Station 2, Engine 3, will now be referred to as Engine 284
Our heavy rescue from Station 2, Rescue 14, will now be referred to as Rescue 28
Our primary brush/wildfire apparatus from Station 2, Brush 7, will now be referred to as Brush 28

Some photos of Wake New Hope Fire Department Engine 1 (dispatched as the closest engine) operating alongside the Raleigh Fire Department at a Car Vs. Building with injuries in the City of Raleigh

This past weekend we added two new trucks to our fleet: Lego Engine 4 and Lego Rescue 14. Both trucks were built by WNHFD Cadet Gavin Jeckel, son of Captain Dwight Jeckel.

Designed as scale models of Engine 4 and Rescue 14, Cadet Jeckel built both using custom lego parts, and the decals were all made to scale. Cadet Jeckel ordered the hundreds of parts needed to build each truck, which he builds as a hobby.

In a house fire, are you safer sleeping with your bedroom doors open or closed? See the dramatic, life-saving difference a door can make.  #CloseBeforeYouDoze

Before you go to sleep, always make sure your bedroom door and the doors to all of your loved ones (kids, parents, pets) are closed. As the video bove shows, it can be a life-saving decision.