This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from September 14, 2026. Looking back at the May 11, 1987, derailment and haz-mat incident south of Elm City in Wilson County. At about 10:30 a.m., at least 27 cars of a CSX freight train derailed. Many were overturned and started leaking sulfuric acid. Some 2,800 …
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See related postings about fireworks incidents and disasters in this series: Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Looking back at the outside fire that ignited fireworks stored on a farm in Lenoir County on June 10, 2022. The resulting explosion killed a farmer and injured three firefighters. This incident occurred at 4871 Bulltown …
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In Duplin County in March 1988, a refrigerated produce warehouse operated by Southern Produce Distributors was destroyed by fire. The building was located on Highway 403, just west of Faison. The building measured approximately 275 feet long, 300 feet wide, and 30 feet high—about 82,500 square feet. A passing motorist discovered the fire at approximately …
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Presenting reporting by the Raleigh News & Observer on September 4, 1991, the day after the deadliest structure fire in the state’s history in Richmond County, at a food processing plant in Hamlet. “Let me out!” victims scream Fire at Hamlet chicken-processing plant kills 25 49 injured as doors bar safety routes By Julie Powers …
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This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from January 1, 2025. Effective 0800 on Tuesday, December 31, 2024, Wayside VFD officially ceased operations and Shepherds Fire-Rescue had taken over the responsibility for their response area, reported Iredell Firewire. Below is a bit of background and some history of the department, which was organized …
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Photo source: Summerfield Fire District posting on Facebook Bitter Blood Shooting, Chase, and Vehicle Explosion Guilford County, North Carolina — June 3, 1985 Chronological narrative created by ChatGPT and compiled from the Greensboro News & Record, June 4, 1985. Plus annotations by Legeros By June 3, 1985, law-enforcement officers in North Carolina and Kentucky were …
Looking back at the emergency landing of AirTran Airways Flight 913 on Tuesday, August 8, 2000. About twenty minutes after the DC-9 departed Piedmont Triad International (PTI) Airport at ~3:15 p.m., the pilot reported thick smoke in the cabin. The captain declared an emergency and requested permission to return to the airport. The jetliner was …
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This is a blog version of a Facebook posting on July 30, 2025. In the wake of last week’s multi-fatality accident on I-485 that killed six people in a three-vehicle collision, let’s look back at the worst car accident in the history of the Charlotte area. Early Saturday morning, December 26, 1931, nine people were …
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This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from September 24, 2024. Morning history. Here’s the story of another multi-fatality hot-air balloon crash in North Carolina. See prior posting on the subject. At 12:53 p.m. on October 21, 1976, a hot-air balloon crashed in downtown Charlotte. The two pilots and their passenger were killed. …
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Photo credits: Justin Fairfax (first two), Mike Legeros (remaining) See photos | watch drone video | | watch ground video | listen to radio traffic Two alarms were struck on Wyatt Brook Way off East Millbrook Road on Friday, August 21, 2026. Dispatched ~4:41 p.m. for E15 E19 E9 E16 L15 L4 R16 BC5 BC1 …