New CFR 2 at Raleigh-Durham International Airport

On Tuesday afternoon, May 2, 2023, new CFR 2 was placed in service at Raleigh-Durham International Airport (RDU). The 2022 Oshkosh Global Striker 3000, 2000/3000/420/550# was delivered in March. See gallery of Legeros pics. It replaces a 2000 Oshkosh TI-1500, 1500/210/450#, which will be placed in reserve service as CFR 5. It’ll be the airport’s …

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Durham County Truck History

This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from December 21, 2019. Top photos from Durham Herald Company Newspaper Photograph Collection, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bottom photos by Lee Wilson. First County Pumper – 1948 Mack Durham’s first “county fire truck” was delivered …

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Durham’s First Black Firefighters

This content first appeared in a Facebook posting on December 13, 2019. Durham Herald Company Newspaper Photograph Collection, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Here’s a bit of hidden history of the Durham Fire Department. Below is a photo the Bull City’s first black firefighters. They …

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Visual History of Durham Fire Department

Updated on December 11, 2022. Chart has been pushed to production, version 1.0.  Here’s a draft of a Durham fire history chart, created in early 2020 during a run on DFD research. Let’s revisit and push the thing to production, shall we? View as JPG | View as PDF | Or via this Google Drive See …

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Then and Now – Old Station 1, Durham

Friday night history. Then and now photo of old Durham Station 1. Top is Legeros photo from today, bottom is circa 1928. The two-story engine house at 212 N. Mangum Street opened in 1925, and included two front and one side apparatus bay. It was erected on the site of an earlier 1891 fire station, …

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Two Alarms on Riddle Road in Durham

  Listen to radio traffic | See Legeros photos Two alarms were struck in Durham on Thursday, April 29, 2021, at a major outside fire at 1915 Riddle Road. Dispatched 3:38 p.m. as a vehicle fire for Engine 4, located two blocks away, and Tanker 18. Structure fire assignment also dispatched, while first units were en …

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Two Alarms in Durham – Condos Under Construction

Two alarms were struck in Durham just before midnight on Tuesday, August 11, 2020. Dispatched 11:50 p.m. for 512 Gordon Street. Three-story condo building, under construction. Behind the old the police station. Engine 1 advised smoke column while en route, requesting the box be filled. Second alarm requested by Engine 1 officer on arrival, with …

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Vintage Durham County Tanker

Here’s another vintage image. Rare photo from Jonathan Umbdenstock of Durham County’s original tanker, a 1966 International with a body built in Raleigh. Odds favor either Alexander Welding or Atlas Steel. Scanned from film print. Had a capacity of 1,200 gallons with a gas-powered pump in the rear, at least at the time of delivery. …

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Durham Public Safety Program Study, 1985

In March 1985, Durham city officials received a comprehensive analysis of their Public Safety Program, a combined fire and police system in place since 1970. The study concluded that both services could be improved and their costs lowered by either modifying the PSO program, or eventually separating the two services. City officials chose the latter. …

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