For safety try flameless candles this Halloween

Flameless candles are a fun and safe alternative to using real ones in a festive jack-o’-lantern or with other decorations.     Children dressed in costumes excitedly running door to door to trick-or-treat, festive decorations like glowing jack-o-lanterns, paper ghosts and dried cornstalks adorning front porches – these are some of the classic hallmarks of Halloween that make [...]

Every smoke alarm has an expiration date: What’s yours?

  The Asheville Fire Department urges City of Asheville residents to know how old their smoke alarms are, and to replace them every 10 years   Does your home have a smoke alarm? According to the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), the answer is likely yes: NFPA research shows that most American homes have at least one. But do you know [...]

911 ceremony photo

City of Asheville holds 9/11 remembrance ceremony

The City of Asheville held a 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony at 10:30 a.m. Sept. 11 in front of the Municipal Building, 100 Court Plaza. The ceremony was in remembrance of the 2,996 people who died during the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and on hijacked United Airlines Flight 93. The ceremony opened [...]

Asheville firefighters set to run 200-mile+ Blue Ridge Relay

Twelve Asheville Fire Department employees will compete in the Blue Ridge Relay this weekend. This marks the sixth year that a team of firefighters from AFD have completed the 208 mile course. Typically finishing in about 26 hours; each athlete will run an average of 17 miles. The team will be competing with 175 other teams from across the [...]

City of Asheville and Asheville firefighters to host Tunnel2Towers 5K

Event honors those who perished on 9/11   Among the promises made by Americans after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, was to pay homage to those who perished, and to never allow the heroism and resilience displayed by Americans in the aftermath to be forgotten. As we near the 15th anniversary of 9/11, the City of [...]

Asheville media offered opportunity to cover rapid deployment training

From 10:30 to 11:30 a.m. August 3, media representatives are invited to attend rapid deployment training. The training, which has involved the Asheville Police Department, Asheville Fire Department and Buncombe County Emergency Medical Services, will take place at the Career Technical Education building beside Asheville High School (419 McDowell St., Asheville). There will be opportunity [...]

Asheville Police, Fire Department officers to participate in Carolina Brotherhood Ride

Firefighters and police officers from North and South Carolina will cycle approximately 460 miles in five days to pay tribute to fallen brothers and sisters from the Carolinas. Riders will head out on July 25 from Columbia, S.C., and will end their journey on July 29 Raleigh. Several Asheville Firefighters and Asheville Police Officers are among [...]

Asheville Fire Department: Play it safe this Fourth of July

Each Fourth of July 4, thousands of people, most often kids and teens, are injured while using consumer fireworks. On a typical Fourth of July, there are more fires nationally than on any other day of the year, with fireworks accounting for two out of five of those fires, more than any other cause of [...]

Asheville police, fire departments to conduct rapid deployment training at school

The Asheville Police Department, in partnership with the Asheville Fire Department and Buncombe County EMS, are participating in a rapid deployment exercise at the current Isaac Dickson Elementary School (90 Montford Avenue) today, June 28, and Wednesday, June 29, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. During this exercise officers, firefighters and emergency medical technicians will be [...]

100 years after the Flood of 1916, the City of Asheville is ready for the next one

By any measure Asheville’s catastrophic Flood of 1916 stands as “The Flood by Which All Other Floods Are Measured.” When two tropical storms converged on the mountains in tandem that summer — one from the Gulf in June followed by another from the Atlantic in July — the water that thundered in its wake wasn’t [...]

Middle-schoolers can participate in free fire camp

The Asheville Fire Department will hold its annual fire summer camp, Fire Escape, from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 20-23. Designed for middle school-aged kids, this free summer series is a highly interactive camp filled with great hands on activities. It allows the kids to meet local firefighters and learn what it takes to be [...]

Asheville firefighters to participate in free smoke alarm canvas Saturday

Red Cross volunteers, Asheville firefighters, AmeriCorps volunteers to install FREE smoke alarms and educate West Asheville residents on home fire prevention    Asheville firefighters, American Red Cross volunteers and AmeriCorps volunteers will spend Saturday, May 7, walking door-to-door installing free smoke alarms and distributing fire safety information to residents in neighborhoods surrounding Hall Fletcher Elementary School. They will [...]