The CWPP Team has finally finished Onslow County! This was our largest County, with 15 fire districts for us to do, so we’re feeling quite a sense of accomplishment to have it completed. Onslow is also our home County, at least until our time with the SCA is over in November, so we were excited for the chance to get to know it a little bit better. Meeting so many fire department representatives, and visiting areas we may not have otherwise seen, made this part of North Carolina feel just a little bit more like home. In each County, we spend the most time with our contact within the North Carolina Forest Service, as they attend every meeting and are our go-to person for information. Naturally, you get to know each other and develop a close working relationship. Onslow County was no different. By the end of our time here we convinced the Assistant Ranger to let us climb the fire tower (apparently no one had done this in quite some time – let’s just say the room up top could use a little sprucing up), we enjoyed a meal of BBQ chicken cooked by the “house chef”, and we all met up at Mud Bog to watch some beefed up trucks try to race through a muddy track. We also had the opportunity to visit the North Topsail Beach fire department, which, luckily for us, is just steps from the beach. Because it’s a relatively small fire district, and wildfires aren’t much of a concern for a beach side community, the meeting with North Topsail went fairly quickly. This afforded us time to have the luxury of lunch on the beach – just one of the perks of working in Onslow County. The highlight of our time in Onslow was watching the Piney Green fire department respond to a call they received in the middle of our meeting. We certainly didn’t mind the interruption, as it gave us a chance to see the firefighters in action. They raced to gear up, jumped into their engine, and took off with lights and sirens blaring. We waited behind patiently while they put out a car fire, watching the plume of smoke rise above the tree line. They returned shortly, and after getting a brief retelling of events, they finished our meeting like true professionals. Needless to say, we really enjoyed our time working in Onslow County, and while we will miss working with all the great people we met along the way, we’re excited to move on to the next County. Watch for updates soon!
