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Wrightsville Beach
Thursday, March 28, 2024

New volunteers, promotions boost Wrightsville Beach Fire Department

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With a boost from Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue, the town’s fire department added more than a dozen new volunteers last week, which along with the promotion of five other firefighters, will make the town’s fire response more “robust and resilient,” the fire chief said this week.

Of the 12 new volunteer firefighter recruits and four volunteers hired with prior firefighting certification, seven are joining after working as a Wrightsville Beach lifeguard, Wrightsville Beach Fire Chief Glen Rogers said.

“What we’re trying to do here is create a department that is welcoming to volunteers,” Rogers said, adding that volunteer recruitment is difficult in vacation communities like Wrightsville Beach, which have a high housing costs and a large number of visiting and temporary residents.

Among the promotions, Jeff Williams was promoted to captain, filling the position held by former Capt. Sterling Powell. Mike Garner, Sara Jordan and Ray Thompson were promoted to the rank of lieutenant, while John Scull, a member of Wrightsville Beach Ocean Rescue, was hired as a firefighter.

The town brought on four new volunteer firefighters with prior experience, including John Golder, Mo Peacock, Greg Still and Parker Galloway.

The department added three new volunteer recruits from its intern program, Dwayne Parnell, Brooks McQueen and Luke Parks, while also adding Ana Fish, H. Ira Hoell, Hunter Joyner, Dylan Treman, Calvin Cofer, Karli Smiraglia, James Morton, Mark “Rett” Nabell and Steve Williams.

Nabel, a 24-year-old East Carolina University graduate, has worked as a Wrightsville Beach lifeguard for two years, said he was drawn to fire service after his family lost their house in a structure fire last year.

“It was a major incident in my life and I saw how much damage it did to us,” Nabel said.

He added that while fighting fires was one of his motivations, he was also inspired by the camaraderie in the department: “I just love being around all of them, it’s a great department.”

Fish, another new volunteer recruit that came from the town’s ocean rescue team, said that she was attracted to the opportunity after hearing emergency calls over the lifeguards’ dispatch system.

“All summer I would listen as my friends got dispatched to fire and medical calls. This allows me to be part of the calls now,” said Fish, a former Wingate University swimmer who served her first summer on the ocean rescue team.

Fish, who is looking for medical experience as she attends nursing school Cape Fear Community College  said the training was challenging, especially with the added weight the heavy equipment brings.

“It’s a lot harder with 50 pounds of gear. It’s claustrophobic,” she said. “It’sa  lot different when you can cool off in the ocean. There’s no cooling off in the turnout gear.”

Rogers credit Scull for the recruitment efforts, noting that he went to University of North Carolina Wilmington and other areas to find young people who lived in or near Wrightsville Beach.

“He took a mutlitier approach to keeping the vitality of the volunteer force,” Rogers said. “He really came through for the town. He connects well with younger people, finds out what motivates them to be a volunteer and communicates with them on their level.”

With the added volunteers, Rogers said the department should be able to secure a force of 12 firefighters able to quickly respond to fire calls.

“With the height of the building, how close they are to each other, and the constant wind all the time, if we do get a fire, we have to react quickly to contain that one house,” Rogers said.

 

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