Westarea Fire Department

06/13/2026

Huge thank you to Biiiiig Boooooy Eatz for keeping the crew fed tonight. Thank you for stopping by and taking care of our crews!

06/08/2026

For your awareness - conditions are favorable for rapid fire growth. Help keep our community safe by using caution when burning.

🔥 HEADS UP: High Fire Danger has returned to most of the state, a result of abnormally dry fuel conditions further exacerbated by high temperatures low relative humidity, and gusty SW winds of 10-25MPH, resulting in high fire danger across most of North Carolina! This will continue this afternoon and into Sunday.

Fire fuels could easily ignite and spread rapidly in these conditions. Residents and visitors to the area are urged to properly dispose of cigarette butts, matches, and any other flammable items in appropriate containers. Exercise caution if operating any equipment that could create sparks, and keep vehicles off dry leaves and grass.

-Ethan

06/08/2026

Crews spent the day working on the new hire packet and sharpening essential skills. 🚒🚒

06/04/2026

Just a reminder that Fireground Ops 6 begins tonight at Station 25 at 6.00 pm. No preregistration is required. Class is being taught by FTCC.

06/02/2026

Behind every dirty uniform is a crew that showed up and got the job done.

06/01/2026

May's monthly community report is out for ya'll to see what we've been up to.

May was a good month for us. We've brought on several new volunteers, and this past Thursday night we had 31 members turn out for live burn evolutions in our training building, which shows solid commitment from both our volunteers and our paid staff.

We have all the equipment in for the new-to-us Rescue truck and it's almost ready to be placed in service. We're meeting with vendors to spec out two new apparatus that will replace some of our older fleet.

We also provided coverage for our friends at Deep Creek ATV park for their annual Memorial Weekend Creekfest concerts and races, which saw no major injuries or accidents throughout the weekend but some amazing food trucks that we had to try out for safety reasons.

On the training side, we're still hosting FTCC's Fire Academy at night, which continues to see solid attendance numbers. It's great to see the next generation of firefighters putting in the work to learn their craft.

Thanks to M & J Collision Repair and Towing in Dunn we had a couple of cars to cut on for extrication training with our friend Todd Bane teaching. And we also attended multi-company training with our neighbors in both Harnett County for ropes and technical rescue operations and the City of Fayetteville for live fire and search evolutions.

All in all, May was a good month. We're keeping busy, the trucks are running, the people are showing up, the training is happening, and as far as we know, nothing's broken (except Chief's patience with us from time to time but that's every month so nothing new there).

05/30/2026

Doing what most of us do best, watching chief work…

All jokes aside, crews are working on Rescue 20 today, taking care of maintenance. 👨‍🚒🛠️

05/29/2026

Thursday night’s training was some live burn evolutions. We’ve brought on a lot of new volunteers recently so we thought it would be a good time to expose them to a little fire. A good time was had by all.

05/28/2026

Westarea Fire Department would like to take a moment to congratulate Captain Lemuel “Lem” Ivey on his retirement from the Fayetteville Fire Department after an incredible 40-year career.

Lem has had a career that he can truly be proud of - serving the citizens of Fayetteville with pride, mentoring generations of firemen and leaders within the Fayetteville Fire Department, and defining what it truly means to serve others in this job.

We’re also proud to call Lem one of our own here at Westarea. He has been a part of this department since 1981, and we are incredibly grateful for his knowledge, his calm demeanor, his unique Lem-isms and one-liners, and the simple fact that if Lem is working there’s going to be a fresh pot of coffee ready.

A passion for this job isn’t something that comes easy. Every day brings new challenges, and we’ll never take for granted the hard work and dedication that a career like this demands. Lem will leave a lasting legacy at the Fayetteville Fire Department, just as he'll leave one here at Westarea when he finally decides to leave the fire service completely behind.

While Lem’s full-time career may be coming to a close, we’re fortunate that he’s not hanging up the boots just yet. Westarea will continue to benefit from his knowledge, leadership, and mentorship for years to come.

Thank you for your service, Lem. Enjoy your retirement - you’ve definitely earned it.