Navassa Volunteer Fire Department - Station19

09/02/2026

We are pleased to announce the order of a new foam truck that will enhance our ability to respond to industrial hazards.

The truck will carry 300 gallons of Class B foam, 100 gallons of Class A foam, 2,200 gallons of water, 100 lbs. of Purple K, 20 gallons of high-expansion foam, and 20 gallons of F-500EA encapsulator. Key features include:

• A Hale Q-Max pump NFPA rated at 2,250 gallons per minute, with the ability to exceed 3,000 gallons per minute when supplied by an adequate water source.
• A custom main intake manifold with two 6-inch side-by-side intakes on both the passenger(officer) and driver sides, plus dual Trident pneumatic primers.
• A Rowe Industries 200 CFM compressed air foam system (CAFS) and a FoamPro around-the-pump proportioner.
• Through-the-tank ladder and storage for a 3,000-gallon dump tank.
• Twin bumper-mounted, wireless remote-control Task Force Tips Tornado master nozzles, each rated at 500 gallons per minute and capable of flowing water or firefighting foam.
• A Task Force Tips Monsoon monitor with an electric Task Force Tips self-educting Masterfoam nozzle and an electric Task Force Tips telescoping waterway capable of flowing 2,000 gallons per minute of Class B foam.
• Speedlays, a front bumper jump line, and a booster reel all compressed air foam system capable.

Although designed primarily for foam operations in the train yard, distillation plant, and out on the Interstate I-140, the truck can also serve as a 2,200-gallon tanker/engine for vehicle, structure, and wildland fires. Together with our two existing 3,000-gallon tankers, it will give us an initial in-house tanker response capacity of 8,200 gallons of water.

We chose Deep South Fire Trucks to build the truck because of their reliability and continued support for our two existing tankers. The truck will be built on a 2027 Peterbilt 548 chassis and designed to closely match our current Peterbilt 548 tanker.

We will also order 1,100 gallons of environmentally friendly National Foam Universal Green 3% firefighting foam. Our existing foam trailer will be converted in-house into an 825-gallon foam tanker to support the new truck. A Williams Fire Hazard Control WATP-1500V around-the-pump proportioner will be added and allow the trailer to connect to any fire apparatus with a pump, making it foam capable.

We thank NC State Representative Frank Iler for visiting with us three years ago and supporting this effort, and we appreciate the Town of Navassa for its continued support. We also thank the Selma Fire Department and ADR Fire-Rescue for allowing us to observe their foam response operations, which helped shape this project.

08/19/2026

Photos from the 2025 Trunk or Treat. Looking forward to this year's event!

08/19/2026

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.