[SeeGov Enhanced] Durham council mourns fallen firefighter, debates encampment response

Durham Approves Wake Forest Highway Housing in 4-3 Vote

A divided council approved up to 200 homes on Wake Forest Highway despite neighbors’ concerns. Durham also reported housing about 100 people and debated what taxpayers are getting from state and federal lobbyists.

Southpoint AccessWes Platt

Durham City Council paused its Thursday work session to remember Andrew Brokes, a 24-year-old firefighter killed that morning when a burning building’s roof and second floor collapsed, trapping firefighters inside.

Brokes joined the Durham Fire Department on May 5, 2025, and was assigned to Tower Company 5 at Station 13. The department said he died while searching for victims at 410 Marly Drive, near South Miami Boulevard.

“This is a heartbreaking loss for our department, the family, and the entire community,” Fire Chief Robert Zoldos II said in a statement.

City Manager Bo Ferguson told council members that crews arrived at 3:21 a.m. and the collapse occurred about 10 minutes later. Two injured firefighters were treated and released from Duke Hospital. Everyone else who’d been in the building escaped safely.

Ferguson described it as an “extremely dark day for the Durham Fire Department.”

Mayor Pro Tem Javiera Caballero led a moment of silence. Ferguson said the city was providing support to Brokes’ family, firefighters, and the 911 telecommunicators who handled the emergency. The State Bureau of Investigation is leading the investigation into the fire and fatal collapse.