UPDATE #2 – First CWPP Interviews & Community Assessments

The Ragin’ Raleighs geared up for their first week of service.

Our Monday morning was spent as a crew creating a map of the districts in North Carolina we will be working in using ArcGIS software. The afternoon centered on interview prep for the next days’ work.

On Tuesday the Ragin’ Raleighs successfully finished two interviews, Mar-Mac Volunteer Fire Department (VFD) and Grantham VFD, with the help of the Wayne County assistant ranger- Hannah. The first interview began a bit late, and thus our second interview with Jordan’s Chapel was cancelled as the fire chief/farmer needed to tend to his fields. This was our first exposure to some of the troubles of working with volunteer fire departments that we may face throughout the remainder of our CWPP work.
Wednesday was used to enter interview data into our database, create business cards, setup work phones, and complete six community assessments in Wayne County. Thursday focused on data entry and interview prep. In the evening we drove to Snow Hill, NC to interview three fire chiefs.
With their first week of work finished, the Ragin’ Raleighs felt they had a better idea of how things would progress throughout the rest of their time in North Carolina.
The Ragin’ Raleighs settled into their second week of work with a continued focus in Greene and Wayne Counties. The week’s goals placed strong emphasis on data entry, area of concern maps, and completing the first CWPP rough drafts.
In Greene County with the aid of County Ranger Brian Lovett, the crew interviewed fire chiefs and representatives from Arba, Jason, Maury, and Walstonberg volunteer fire departments. Well, sort of--about five minutes into the interview Brian and Walstonberg fire chief were called away to handle a debris-burning situation gone awry. After the interviews, the crew headed out to complete community assessments.
A nearby smoke plume intrigued the crew, upon closer inspection, the area on fire happened to be the area the crew needed to assess. Oh the irony, eh! This enabled the crew to visualize the need for CWPPs.
After completing several CAs with the help of Hannah, the crew was able to bond with her over a delicious lunch of barbequed chicken, hushpuppies, and chewbread.
An assessment of Indian Springs’ areas of concern revealed the true need for up-to-date maps, as their combination of an outdated topographic map and a more recent atlas road map led them to attempt to assess several areas with non-existent roads.
The Ragin’ Raleighs ended the week on a strong note with the rough draft completion of CWPPs for Mar-Mac, Grantham, and Indian Springs fire districts.