12/05/2025
🔥 Welcome to RFD Connections — December 5, 2025
Welcome back to another edition of RFD Connections, where we highlight the major moments, meaningful updates, and everything in between happening across our Raleigh Fire Department family. As we move deeper into the season of ceremonies, celebrations, and year-end wrap-ups, there’s no shortage of important work and memorable milestones to share.
From department initiatives and event planning updates to community engagements, retiree news, and behind-the-scenes snapshots — this edition keeps you in the loop and connected to what’s happening across the stations, committees, and training grounds.
Grab a cup of coffee… or whatever fuel gets you through these colder mornings… and let’s get into it.
🚒 Farewell Luncheon for Station 3 🚒
Join us as we honor the history and legacy of Station 3 before the move to its new home.
📅 Thursday Dec. 11, 2025
⏰ 11 am– 1 pm
📍 RFD Station Three 13 S East St, Raleigh, NC 27601
Please RSVP so we can plan food and seating: 👉 Click Here to RSVP
We’re building a memory slideshow and would love your help!
If you have photos, videos, or Station 3 memorabilia, please share them with us — we can scan or digitize anything.
(Use the RSVP form to upload files) I need these by Monday Dec. 8!
Let’s give Station 3 the send-off it deserves. ❤️🔥
🏀Police v Fire Basketball Tournament🏆
🏀Battle of the Badges:❤️Fire vs Police💙
The heat is on this December! Watch Raleigh’s bravest and boldest go head-to-head in an all-out Basketball Tournament — featuring teams from Raleigh Fire, Raleigh Police, Durham Fire, Wilmington Fire, Rocky Mount Fire, and State Highway Patrol!
📅 Saturday, Dec 13, 2025
🕘 Tip-off at 9:00 AM
💰$10 at the door
📍 Ravenscroft School, 7409 Falls of Neuse Rd, Raleigh
💥 Donations benefit the UNC Burn Center — come cheer, support, and see who takes home the trophy!
👕Get your t-shirts too! Contact Becky @ 919-264-3565 for info
⚾️RFD Softball Interest – We Need Players!
Wake New Hope Fire Department is hosting a Benefit Softball Tournament on Saturday, December 13 in Wendell, and Captain Poole is looking to pull together one or two RFD teams to support their fundraiser for WNHFD members impacted by cancer.
They’re aiming to wrap the tournament in one day, depending on how many teams sign up.
If you’re interested in playing, please reach out to Captain James Poole.
📞 919-796-7109
💲 $25 per person
👥 Looking for at least 12 players, but the more the merrier!
🏒 RFD Hockey
The next game hasn't been scheduled yet, but we are planning the 2nd annual RPD v PFD Hockey Game for next year! Stay tuned…….
Chief Clay Hicks is Retiring!
Come join us at Station 29 at noon on Friday, December 19, 2025 for food and fellowship to celebrate the 30-year career of Chief, and Assistant Chaplain, Franklin “Clay” Hicks, Jr.
👨👩👧 Retirements!🙌
Lt. Travis Boykin is retiring!
Here ye! Here ye! Let it be known that (Squire) Travis “T Boy” Boykin is giving up the reins of Engine 8 and riding off into retirement. Please join us at Station 8 on December 29, 2025, from 1200 hours until the food runs out or the lies quit being told. Let’s send him off with the recognition that he deserves. We look forward to seeing you on the 29th.
🎉Congratulations Captain Dacote Whitaker!
This week we celebrated the quiet retirement of Captain Dacote Whitaker, Engine 29 “A” Shift, after an incredible 29 years of dedicated service to Raleigh Fire Department.
Friends and coworkers stopped by the station throughout the day to share stories, wish him well, and mark the moment. His crew also presented him with a meaningful plaque — a small gesture for a career that made a big impact.
Though he chose a low-key farewell, his years of leadership, commitment, and heart have left a lasting mark on those who served alongside him.
Congratulations, Captain Whitaker. Thank you for 29 years of service, and cheers to a well-deserved next chapter. ❤️🔥
🎉Congratulations Senior Firefighter Johnny Dotson!
This week we honored Senior Firefighter Johnny Dotson of Ladder 6 as he retired after an impressive 32 years of service with Raleigh Fire Department.
Throughout the day, firefighters and friends stopped by Station 6 to share stories, laughs, and well-wishes. His crew also presented him with a special plaque — a heartfelt nod to a career defined by dedication, teamwork, and plenty of unforgettable moments.
Johnny leaves behind a legacy of hard work, late-night calls, and more than a few legendary kitchen creations. His presence at Station 6 will be deeply missed.
Congratulations on your retirement, Johnny — and thank you for 32 years of service. ❤️🔥
🥞 We Enjoyed Gathering with Our Retiree Family🫂
A huge thank-you to everyone who came out to the annual retirees’ breakfast at Angie’s on Tuesday. It was truly great to see familiar faces, catch up, and share a meal with the folks who built the foundation we stand on today. Your continued connection to the department means more than you know, and we’re grateful for the stories, the laughs, and the time together.
We’re already looking forward to the next one. ❤️🔥
For the full photo album, check out Mike Legeros’ site
We're continuing to grow our contact list for this group!
Please update your info using this form: 👉 RFD Retiree Contact Update Form
🔨 Keep Those Skills & Trades Coming In!🔌
🛠️ Got Skills? We Need You!
We’ve already received some great submissions for our Skills & Trades Directory — but we know there are way more hidden talents across the department. Whether you build, bake, fix, weld, design, coach, create, paint, haul, sew, or run a full-blown side hustle… we want to showcase it.
This directory is all about connecting our RFD family with the incredible services and skills already in-house. If you haven’t submitted yours yet, now’s the time. It takes just a minute, and it helps us shine a light on the awesome things you do outside the uniform.
Your toolbox is bigger than you think - let’s fill this directory up!
❤️Honoring Our Fallen: RFD Launches Annual Wreath Laying Tradition
Raleigh Fire Department is beginning a new annual tradition to honor every member we’ve lost in the line of duty. Starting in January 2025, we will mark each anniversary with a wreath placed at the Raleigh Fallen Firefighters Memorial in Nash Square — a quiet, meaningful moment that ensures every name, every story, and every sacrifice is remembered.
We will begin by honoring Herman S. Jones, Line-of-Duty Death: January 22, 2008. More details about the January ceremony will be shared soon.
The Fallen Firefighters Memorial is a place where our department’s courage, heart, and history live on. By creating this annual tradition, we hope to:
Honor each fallen member with a consistent, heartfelt remembrance
Offer a moment of reflection for our department and families
Strengthen the bond between our current members, retirees, and our shared history
Carry forward the legacy of those who paved the way
This tradition is our promise to never let their memory fade.
👶Tiny Tot Arrival! 🍼
Congratulations go out to our new fire family additions!
Walter Hernandez and his wife welcomed their son, Francisco Salvador Hernandez into this world on December 3, weighing 7.9 pounds.
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Andrew Perlak and his wife welcomed Baby Savannah Claire into this world on November 27. Baby, mom, and dad are doing great.
Welcome to the world, Baby Hernandez & Baby Perlak! 🎉
🕊 In Memoriam
Please keep Assistant Chief Lowell Smith and his family in your thoughts and prayers after the recent passing of his father-in -law.
Edward Alan Daughtry, Sr., 85, passed away Wednesday, November 19, 2025. Affectionately known as Ed, he was born on January 24, 1940, in the Suttontown community of Sampson County to the late George L. Daughtry and Grace Sutton Daughtry.
A memorial service will be held on December 4, 2025, at 2:00 p.m. at the Wilkerson Funeral Home Chapel, Greenville. The family will receive friends immediately following the service.
Read the obituary here .
🎉 We’re back home at Keeter Training Center!
Renovations are wrapped up, and the team is moved back in. It feels good to be home!
If you still need to pick up blankets or yearbooks, or get your ID badge, just a heads-up — KTC is now badge-access only, so you’ll need to be let in.
Reach out to Keri before you’re on the way: 919-807-9121.
Thanks for joining us for another round-up of what’s happening across RFD. Keep the stories coming, keep the photos rolling in, and keep showing up for each other — it’s what keeps this place running strong. See you in the next edition… same time, same firehouse energy.
💡 Share Your Story💬
RFD Connections is your space to celebrate our people, our moments, and the bonds that make this department extraordinary.
If you have photos, event updates, or stories worth sharing, send them our way — we’d love to feature them in a future issue.
📧 Email: rfdconnections@gmail.com or keri.warner@raleighnc.gov
