DURHAM, N.C.— From Raleigh to Durham, the skyline of the Triangle area is rapidly expanding. There are more than two dozen development projects underway in Durham that include multiple high-rise buildings. 

While this new construction changes the view of the Bull City, it also changes how first responders are answering the call. 

The City of Durham Fire Department changed its protocol for responding to high-rise fires. 

"We've seen a tremendous amount of growth with larger buildings, some high-rises and when addressing fire suppression, needs inside of high-rise buildings. Our tactics have to vary from a single-family dwelling," Battalion Chief Richard Ray said. 

Ray joined the City of Durham Fire Department in 1997 and earned the rank of Battalion Chief in 2018. He is in charge of high-rise training and helped implement a new equipment policy between 2008 and 2009. 

"We were doing some tactics that were a bit outdated, we reached out to larger municipalities that do high-rise firefighting and we talked to them about their tactics, and their methods," Ray said. 

Ray and a team from the Durham Fire Department put together a policy that includes larger hose lines, equipping ladder trucks with search ropes, and additional gear and tools needed when responding to fires at that caliber. 

"We’ve had some fires in the downtown area, some in some older buildings, some in some newer ones. It’s been very resource-driven as far as the tactics we’ve had to accomplish on the fire ground. We’ve been very fortunate as well that we’ve been able to mitigate these incidents," Ray said. 

Early detection like fire alarms and sprinklers has been a key factor in reducing the number of fires the department sees. Ray says while they're thankful that's the case, it also reduces the real-life experience his firefighters get. 

"Our experience is more of a challenge to gain it, so we really have to utilize our training more," Ray said. 

Multi-story buildings require a minimum of two engines to respond, which is eight personnel on the ground. Ray says in most cases, it ends up being the majority of the department responding. 

“On a high rise building, we’re going to deplete a lot of our resources," Ray said. 

In these situations, they have to rely on support from neighboring fire departments. 

“Just because we’re at one event doesn’t mean the calls stop for the rest of the city. Life safety is the primary concern. Everything we do is geared towards the citizen,” Ray said. 

In Nov. 2021, the department was able to acquire the old South Bank in Downtown Durham to use for training before it was demolished. That property will now be home to a 27-story mixed-use high rise apartment complex. 

"We were able to encounter things, stairwells, tying into a standpipe, doing searches in a large building. We worked through the challenges that we face within those buildings, and got some training and experience in a larger building," Ray said. 

Ray said when these new developments go up, the department is heavily involved in the fire prevention plans. 

"They look at the plans, review the plans, suppression systems, sprinklers, the fire department is heavily involved in that. Not only are we involved on the prevention side, that It meets code, we also look at the response as well - high-rise response. Mutual aid comes in from supporting cities because it's a taxing event. The fires we’ve had, we are able to do with the City of Durham firefighters, but it takes a large portion of our shift," Ray said. 

While the call for a high-rise fire is more grueling for firefighters, Ray said the department is prepared and adapting to the changing landscape of the city they serve. 

"On a house you see on Main Street USA,  that’s what we do every day, that's our bread and butter operation, fires in high-rises, they’re low frequency events that just don’t happen very often and I'm thankful they don’t happen very often," Ray said.