Death of New Bern Assistant Fire Chief Johnnie Gaskill, 1904

How exactly did New Bern Assistant Fire Chief John “Johnnie” J. Gaskill die in the line of duty on November 6, 1904? His death has been long-attributed to injuries resulting from a fire horse kicking him in the head. In recent years, NBFD historian Daniel Bartholf dug deep into surviving records and newspaper clippings and …

Continue reading ‘Death of New Bern Assistant Fire Chief Johnnie Gaskill, 1904’ »

Historical Perspective on Mass Shootings in Raleigh

Five people were killed and two were injured in an active shooter incident in east Raleigh on October 13, 2022. The gunman was also injured. See news reports and prior posting. What’s the historical perspective of mass shootings and similar incidents in Raleigh and Wake County? Notable incidents include: 1965, May 17 – Downtown Shooting, …

Continue reading ‘Historical Perspective on Mass Shootings in Raleigh’ »

Run Card for Hedingham Shootings

Posting last updated November 8, 2022, at 7:05 a.m. See more Legeros photos | Read Raleigh Police five-day report (PDF)  | Read historical perspective on mass shootings in Raleigh Here are notes about the fire and EMS response to the active shooter incident in Raleigh on October 13, 2022. Five people were shot and killed, including …

Continue reading ‘Run Card for Hedingham Shootings’ »

Beck Fire Trucks Built in Davidson County

Update July 18. 2024. Added picture of picture from Welcome FD, of the first two trucks Beck built for the department. This is a blog version of Legeros Fire Line Facebook postings from September 2022. Mike Legeros Photo We recently learned of another fire truck builder in North Carolina. Jacob C. “Jake” Beck in Davidson …

Continue reading ‘Beck Fire Trucks Built in Davidson County’ »

Raleigh Rescue Boats, Past and Present

With the remnants of Hurricane Ian reaching Raleigh today, here’s a look at the city’s water rescue vehicles, past and present. Left to right, top to bottom: 1953 wooden rescue boats, originally operated by the Raleigh Emergency Rescue Squad at Station 1. And they’ve survived to this date, presently in storage. Lee Wilson photo, from …

Continue reading ‘Raleigh Rescue Boats, Past and Present’ »

Raleigh Fire Calls During Hurricane Hazel in 1954

In October 1954, a much smaller version of the Raleigh Fire Department answered dozens of calls as Hurricane Hazel passed across the state. The department–with seven engine companies and two truck companies–had one of their busiest weekends ever, said newspapers. For four decades, Hazel was recognized as the benchmark of tropical weather in this part …

Continue reading ‘Raleigh Fire Calls During Hurricane Hazel in 1954’ »

Wake County Fire Commission Meeting – September 15, 2022

The Wake County Fire Commission held their regular meeting on Thursday, September 15, 2022, at 6:00 p.m., at the Wake County Emergency Services Education Center, 221 S. Rogers Lane, Raleigh, NC 27610.  The agenda and meeting documents are below.   View Meeting Documents Recording Listen to the audio recording, as linked from this page. Notes Go …

Continue reading ‘Wake County Fire Commission Meeting – September 15, 2022’ »

Raleigh Wake Scanner Moves to Slack

Raleigh Wake Scanner on Twitter/Facebook changed platforms on May 1, 2022. They moved their posted traffic and incident alerts to Slack channel(s)–generated from their monitoring of scanner radios–and adopted a supporter model with a nominal fee to cover operational expenses. Slack can be used on any browser on any computer. There’s also a Windows desktop …

Continue reading ‘Raleigh Wake Scanner Moves to Slack’ »