Navassa Volunteer Fire Department - Station19

08/05/2026

Over the past few days, we have been training and learning from others. This weekend, we visited the ADR Fire-Rescue Department to learn about their Class B foam firefighting operations.

On Monday night, our members completed SCBA drills and practiced firefighter rescues.

Today, we traveled to the Selma, NC Fire Department to learn about their Class B foam firefighting operations and how they protect the large fuel tank farms in their community.

On the way back to Brunswick County, we stopped at the NC Forest Service Aviation facility in Duplin County for a tour. It was great to meet the pilots we have seen working numerous fires and to see their aircraft and equipment up close.

We are fortunate and grateful to have so many people willing to fellowship with us and share their knowledge.

07/27/2026

For tonight's training we conducted pump operations allowing members to practice drafting and pumping water. All water used was already in our 8000 gallon closed test pit, which recycles the same water multiple times.

07/13/2026

Our own Assistant Chief Thornton lending a hand to a pet in need.

Also, Firefighter Miller, Firefighter Miranda, Firefighter Bunn, Firefighter D' Alesio, Captain Thornton, and the Chief responded to this call. Glad were able to help.

A little good news from a hard day last week.

Leland first responders were called to a house fire, where everyone was able to make it out of the home safely.

Outside the home, a Leland Police officer and other first responders also helped care for the family’s cat, giving it oxygen through a specially designed pet mask.

We’re happy to share the cat made a full recovery and was reunited with its family.

A small moment of relief on a very scary day.

07/11/2026

Our Tanker 1978 crew has safely returned to the station. Today, they shuttled 6,000 gallons of water to support aerial operations at the wildland fire. As with every call, we cleaned and readied our equipment for the next response.

We also used the day to test a new feature installed on all of our vehicles: vehicle trackers. Each apparatus is now equipped with a tracker and a companion app available to all members. This allows members to see each vehicle’s location during large incidents. Today, members standing by in Navassa were able to track Tanker 1978’s location at all times. We plan on incorporating this app into all future wildland operations, especially with Brush 1976 and Brush 1977.

07/11/2026

Navassa Tanker 1978 was dispatched to the southern end of the county to assist with the wildfire. Tanker 1978 is currently on assignment at the Odell Williamson Airport providing water for air drops to NC Forest Service planes..

06/30/2026

Earlier today, Chief Williams and Chief Thornton visited the CSX locomotive service center in Richmond, Virginia, where they met with CSX mechanical staff and learned about diesel-electric locomotives.

This training is especially valuable to the Navassa Volunteer Fire Department because CSX Davis Yard is located just a quarter mile from our station. As CSX’s main hub for the Wilmington and Southeastern North Carolina region, Davis Yard serves as the local base for large locomotives moving inbound and outbound freight across the state, as well as smaller locomotives used for local deliveries.

CSX staff were extremely helpful, answering their questions and providing a hands-on experience with the types of locomotives commonly used in our area. The knowledge gained from this training will help our department make safer, more informed decisions during future locomotive-related incidents at Davis Yard and will also guide future equipment purchases for rail emergency response.

We thank the Davis Yard staff and the CSX Richmond, Virginia team for hosting us.

06/27/2026

We work very hard to extend the service life of our vehicles and equipment while maximizing value for the community. We do this through proper storage, thorough cleaning, regular inspections, routine maintenance, and the use of quality lubricants and OEM parts whenever possible. This proactive approach helps us keep equipment in service for years longer and reduce avoidable repairs. During our recent annual servicing we were able to correct several minor issues that would have led to more costly repairs or a vehicle needing to be towed.

We want to thank LDR Mobile Repair for servicing our fleet and catching these minor issues. We also want to thank Smith International for quickly taking care of an issue identified, which was covered under warranty.

While we are transitioning to battery-operated fans and small tools, we continue to maintain some gas-powered equipment for backup use and large-scale events. During this service period, our vendors and paid staff completed maintenance on the following assets:

• 5 - Class A fire engines/tankers
• 2 - Brush trucks
• 2 - Squads
• 1 - Chief’s truck
• 1 – Boat
• 24 - Small engines (generators, pumps, fans, and saws)

Next week all SCBAs will go through annual flow testing and at the end of the month all fire hose and ground ladders will be tested.

06/19/2026

This morning, our crews responded to two weather-related calls.

The first call came in shortly before 8:30 a.m. Squad 75 (Captain Thornton, Firefighter Barrett, and Firefighter Bunn) and Chief 19 responded to a report of downed power lines on Cedar Hill Road. Upon arrival, crews found a vehicle in the roadway tangled in power lines that had fallen due to vegetation, with additional lines on the ground nearby. Two of the three occupants were able to exit the vehicle, while the third remained inside until Duke Energy arrived. No injuries were reported, and the Brunswick County Sheriff’s Office closed the roadway. The area remained closed for several hours while Duke Energy completed repairs.

While crews were still on that call, a second call came in around 9:00 a.m. for a downed tree on Edgehill Drive. Chief 19 and Squad 81 (Firefighters Miller and Mohammed) responded. Once on scene, crews found that a large tree had fallen onto the rear of a home, causing damage. No injuries were reported. Crews remained on scene until personnel from the County Building Inspections Department arrived to assess the damage.

We thank everyone who responded, as well as the County 911 Center for making critical phone calls and helping coordinate the needed response from Duke Energy, the Sheriff’s Office, Highway Patrol, and the Building Inspections Department.

06/10/2026

Engine 1972 completed its 2026 annual pump test today. During the department’s scheduled pump testing earlier this year, the engine was out of service at Ashby’s Diesel in Holly Ridge, NC, so it was unable to test with the other two engines. It passed today’s test with ease.

We are fortunate to have an inground test pit at our station 2, which makes this process easy and convenient. We also use our test pit for pump operations training and nozzle testing.

We thank John Lockamy for conducting the test and Firefighters Miller and James for their assistance.

06/09/2026

Our part-time daytime firefighters are all experienced professionals who serve in departments larger than ours. These valuable employees share experience and practical techniques with our volunteers.

Firefighters McDade and Sheppard spent part of the day assembling a ventilation prop, giving our volunteers hands-on cutting practice with our DeWalt electric chainsaws for our Monday evening training session.

We are thankful for the willingness of our paid employees to help develop our volunteers.