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Video: Firefighter proposes to girlfriend at station with fire hose

An alarm sounded and two firefighters came out, got into a smaller truck and pulled out of the bay, revealing a message: “Will you marry me?”

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By Nancy McCleary
The Fayetteville Observer

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Fayetteville firefighter Ashton Hanway wanted a unique way to propose to his girlfriend Lauren Wood.

It’s a proposal that neither of them will forget, especially since it was caught on video and posted on social media.

Hanway, 24, came up with a plan that involved fire hoses, a fire truck, a fire department rescue and the help of fellow firefighters from Station 17 on Bailey Lake Road.

Hanway had Wood, 24, come to the fire station on Friday under the pretext of taking pictures. His captain suggested the two stand on top of a fire engine for one of the photos.

Up they went and posed for a shot.

Then, a funny thing happened.

An alarm sounded and two firefighters came out, got into the smaller truck used for medical calls and pulled out of the bay, revealing a message written with a fire hose: “Will you marry me?”

https://www.facebook.com/ashton.hanway/videos/2313039465427896/

“I had planned on doing it another way,” Hanway said, “but it was going to be way too elaborate.”

His plan was simpler, but it still took time to get everything in place.

Using a 100-foot fire hose, he wrote out the proposal.

“I was trying to write in cursive and had to put tape in places,” Hanway said. “I had to space it out just enough to get the truck on it. It took us a couple hours to do everything.”

Needless to say, Wood was speechless when the proposal was revealed. Her mouth fell open as she stood motionless. Then, she turned around to find Hanway on his knee with the engagement ring.

Of course, she said yes.

“It was a complete shock,” Wood said Monday. “It was surreal. It felt like an out-of-body experience. It was just unbelievable, so original and so creative.”

She’s overwhelmed at the response to the video.

The two, who have been a couple for six years, met through a mutual friend who worked with Woods’ mother and volunteered with Hanway at Puppy Creek Fire Department in Hoke County.

“We had our first date on Mother’s Day and we went to a movie,” Wood said. “We saw ‘The Avengers.’ And my mom went on our first date.”

That was Hanway’s idea, she said. He suggested they take her along because it was Mother’s Day.

The wedding will take place in 2019, but a firm date hasn’t been set.

Copyright 2018 The Fayetteville Observer

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