Burke County School Explosion – March 17, 1987

Looking back at the explosion and fire that destroyed Salem Junior High School in Burke County, NC, in March 1987. Tuesday night, March 17, 1987. Address was 1311 Salem Road, south of Morganton. Three-story brick building with 25,000+ square-feet. It was located on a campus that also included two elementary school facilities, a gymnasium, and …

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Broyhill Furniture Factory Fire – January 14, 1976

Fifty years ago this month, the Broyhill furniture factory in Marion, NC, burned on January 14, 1976. Here are some notes about the incident.  – Wednesday morning. – January 14, 1976. – 11:05 a.m. – Otis L. Broyhill furniture plant on West Henderson Street. [AC, 1/15/76] – Three-story building housed finishing room, where fire started. …

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Merger Proposed for Wendell Fire Department and Town of Wendell

This is a blog version of an earlier Facebook posting.  Report from Wake County. On Monday, January 12, 2026, the Board of Commissioners of the Town of Wendell received a presentation from Wake County Fire and Emergency Management about the possibility of a merger of the private, non-profit organization Wendell Fire Department (WFD) with the …

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Raleigh Haz-Mat History

Research notes on the history of the Raleigh Fire Department hazardous materials response program.  Pre-History 1980, Nov 19 – New federal regulations took effect to ensure safe management of hazardous waste, including identifying/notifying authorities of all sites that contained such products. 1982, Sep 13 – Fire in Charlotte at a chemical company forced the evacuation …

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Wrightsville Beach Line of Duty Death – December 6, 1981

This is a version of a Facebook posting from December 6, 2021. On December 6, 1981, Wrightsville Beach volunteer Lt. Robert M. Wynn, 28, died in the line of duty at the Doak Apartments fire. Also severely injured was volunteer firefighter Jon Dennison, 21, who suffered second and third degree burns. At 1:13 a.m. on …

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Charlotte Fire Alarm System History

This posting is a consolidation and expansion of two Facebook postings and discussion threads from December 2025. See part 1 and part 2.  Random notes on the history of fire alarm “street boxes” in Charlotte. Reference Documents View list of box locations before 1975 (PDF) Timeline Before 1900 1887, Nov – First fire alarm system …

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Two Alarms at the Raleigh Convention Center

See Legeros photos | Listen to radio traffic Two alarms were struck at the Raleigh Convention Center at 500 S. Salisbury Street on Monday night, December 1, 2025. Dispatched at ~9:29 p.m., the first-arriving units were from nearby Station 1 on South Dawson Street. Ladder 1 was first-arriving, reporting a working fire, and requesting a …

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Two Alarms on Brooks Avenue – November 16, 2025

Two alarms were struck at a house fire in Raleigh on Sunday, November 16, 2025.  Dispatched ~2:50 p.m. for 1345 Brooks Avenue. One- and two-story, single-family dwelling with 4,116 square-feet. Built 1948. With gusty wind conditions that day, statewide. Engine 6 first-arriving with smoke showing. Upgraded to working fire. Interior attack to start, with crews …

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Run Card for Louisville Cargo Jet Crash

This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from November 5, 2025.  Pleasure Park Ridge Fire District photos Here’s a run card created by reader Kameron Brown–plus annotations added by Legeros–for the major incident in Louisville, KY, on November 3, 2025, involving a cargo jet crash + commercial building(s) + petroleum recycling facility just …

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