This is a blog version of this Facebook posting. Go there for reader comments. The Chapel Hill Fire Department placed Squad 61 in service on Wednesday, April 17. It’s the department’s first rescue truck, and their first red rig in over 25 years. (Their apparatus has been Carolina Blue since 1996, with one exception, a white 2002 HME/4-Guys …
Give or take a few, that is. This list was previously posted to the Chapel Hill Fire Department Retires & History page on Facebook. Learn more CHFD history. 1893 to 1924 1893 – First fire hydrants on campus. Twelve are installed. 1896 – Citizens petition town to create fire department. No action taken at time of …
Continue reading ‘One Hundred Milestones of the Chapel Hill Fire Department’ »
Chapel Hill’s new Fire Station 2 was dedicated on Saturday. The two-story, 11,246 square-foot engine house was opened in May. See photos. It’s the ten-years-in-the-making result of a public and private partnership between the town, the county, and a private developer. Built on the site of the original 1959 fire station on Hamilton Road, it …
Continue reading ‘Chapel Hill Fire Station 2 – History of the Original’ »
The Chapel Hill Fire Department was established in 1896. Everybody knows that, right? Says so on their emblem. But what happens when historical records suggest, perhaps, something different? Let’s a look. Our story begins with a “visiting professor.” Enter local fire historian and CHFD friend Mike Legeros. Starting in late spring, he commenced a deep dive …
Continue reading ‘Chapel Hill’s First Fire Company – A Chronological Quandary’ »
This posting was originally posted on Facebook, on the Chapel Hill Fire Department Retirees & History page. Every part of a community is invariably impacted by fire. And as the clock is turned back, toward simpler times with fewer priorities on life safety and fire prevention, the numbers of destructive blazes invariably rise. Here’s a list …
Continue reading ‘Fraternity Fires in Chapel Hill – 1909 to 2001’ »
Mack CF pumpers were popular trucks in these parts. Chapel Hill had a 1980 model… that was almost a Seagrave. Here’s that story. After soliciting bids for a new pumping engine that year, the town awarded the contract to Seagrave for $112,832.35. The other bidders were Central Mack Sales in Raleigh, Howe Fire Apparatus, Jack Cocke …
Continue reading ‘Chapel Hill’s 1980 Mack… Was Almost a Seagrave’ »
Wait, what? See these town minutes* from February 16, 1963. As it turns out, Chapel Hill’s 1962** American LaFrance pumper was a gently used model, that had been serving at the “Greenville airbase” for about three months, while the airport awaited delivery of a crash truck. Bought for $20,500, versus what would cost $26,000 new. As was customary …
Continue reading ‘Chapel Hill Buys Ex-Airport Pumper, 1963’ »
Presenting a deep-dive into Chapel Hill FD history, via a transcription of town minutes excerpts [both exact and paraphrased]**, originally recorded in typewritten form. Date of original unknown. Likely compiling all references to fires and fire protection, from the first decades of the town’s governance. Photographed from a copy in the CHFD archives, with optical character …
Continue reading ‘Chapel Hill Town Minutes – 1896 to 1922’ »
From the Daily Tar Heel, January 12, 1941, via Digital NC / North Carolina Newspapers: Airport Burns; Seven CAA Planes Destroyed Defective Wiring Attributed Cause By Bucky Harward All ten airplanes and the hangar at the University airport were completely demolished last night between 7 and 8 o’clock by a fire which resulted from a …
Continue reading ‘Chapel Hill Airport Burns – January 11, 1941’ »
From excerpts of town minutes, as recorded as a nine-page typed document for the fire department. Aug. 9, 1921 – P.154 Contract for new Fire House with J. T. Squires for $3,988. 18 X 40 ft. inside. Wall foundation to be 21″ thick; 1st story 13″ thick; 2nd story 8″ thick. 1st floor to be 4″ …
Continue reading ‘Contract for New Chapel Hill Fire House – August 1921’ »