Two Thursdays ago at around 10:00 PM both local and national news outlets were reporting on a frightening scene in downtown Raleigh as a new, uninhabited apartment building under construction at 400 W North Street went up in flames. As most of us watched from the comfort of a place safe from the fire, reports say that more than 130 firefighters put their lives on the line to put out this massive fire and prevent it from spreading. According to these reports, the fire was under control by 1:00 AM, but these same brave men and women of fire departments throughout the area continued spraying water on the building until 5:00 AM in order to ensure there were no residual hot spots.
While this story made national news, these firefighters sacrifice themselves on a daily basis for the safety of everyone in our community and they more than deserve our gratitude and appreciation. As a token of our gratefulness, fellow coworkers Andrew Rose and Devin Butler went with me to one of our local fire stations to give them our thanks and a gift from the firm. They greatly appreciated the visit and were happy to share their experiences. They even let us tour the fire truck! If you have a moment, please let a firefighter know how you feel, they appreciate our thanks!