I first met Doug when I was a student in his Fire Alarms and Communications class in 1995. I had just recently joined the Swift Creek Fire Department and he was a member at what was then Fairgrounds Fire Department. I was expecting the subject of fire alarms and communications to be dry at best - but Doug, with his uncommon passion and expertise in that area, proved me wrong. Doug asked me about the Swift Creek Fire Department, and said that he was considering submitting an application there.

Not long after, he made good on his promise and joined Swift Creek. We quickly became friends, and as we were both relatively new in the department, we stuck together. I can remember many times, stumbling into the firehouse still half asleep after the pagers went off in the middle of the night, and Doug was always there. He wouldn't miss a fire call if he could help it!

When it came to firefighting, Doug epitomized the term "gung-ho", as he lived it, breathed it and ate it for dinner every night! As I was to find out later from his mother and father, firefighting has been in Doug's blood since very early on in his life. Doug's father was also a fire service instructor, and he served as Chief of the Jackson Fire Department. He recounted how Doug used to tag along with him to live burn training and fire calls even before he was knee-high. Doug's mother sent me this picture of him hanging on to his dad's search line at the training center. After hearing those stories, I finally understood where his drive came from.

I looked to Doug as a big brother. He was always quick to defend me, and always the instructor. Most of all, he was a great friend. Even after I moved to Apex and joined the fire department there, we still ran into each other on mutual aid calls and live burn training. He came to Apex often to work on our radios, and though we weren't in the same fire department together anymore we still were buddies.

The last call we ran together, Swift Creek had requested our dive team to assist them with searching a car that had overturned in a pond. In his usual spirit, Doug had suited up in his own dive gear and joined us in the murky freezing cold water. In early 2000, Doug was credited with saving the life of an NCSU student by single-handedly pulling him from his burning apartment building before the fire trucks arrived.

Although Doug is no longer physically with us, I know that his spirit will forever be in the hearts and minds of those of us that knew him. So, the next time you go into a burning building, the next time you talk on a radio, the next time you teach a class of wide-eyed rookies, think of a very special friend and brother, and he will live with us always.