Washington Mayor Mac Hodges officially proclaimed Feb. 18 “Edward Peed Day.” Peed, a nozzleman for the Salamander Fire Company, was the first known firefighter to die in the line of duty in North Carolina. Pictured are Hodges, Human Relations Council members Norman Hawn, Bonita Wright, Tammie Lawrence, Glenwood Horton and William O’Pharrow, and Washington City Councilman William Pitt.