Found this while doing other research last week. We first discussed on the Facebook side. Memo to self: add to fallen firefighters database. On November 26, 1946, Durham Fire Chief Frank W. Bennett died at Watts Hospital. His death was duty-related. Chief Bennett became ill on November 6, while supervising a fire at the Durham Mattress …
In 1777, the state legislature passed an Act for the Regulation of the Town of Hillsborough, which included that every household have two buckets and one ladder, and keep them “in continual readiest” in case of fire. This pre-dates by decades the 1848 references in town minutes to fire equipment. See that history here, by …
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Evening update: See Legeros photos. Two alarms were struck yesterday at 1723 Crossroads Arbor Way. Two-story, garden-style apartment building with sixteen units and 10,656 square-feet. Built 1999. Dispatched 2:19 p.m. Upgraded to working fire while companies were en route, based on caller information. Swift Creek Car 1 first-arriving, followed by Swift Creek Engine 1. Fire found …
Yes, it’s history month at Blog Central. Was shown this last week, from a fellow research. The story of fire protection in Colonial Wilmington, from a May 1975 article in the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society Bulletin. Includes details on what was likely North Carolina’s first hand engine, delivered circa 1756. Plus a few details on …
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Here’s a vintage booklet about the Salem Fire Department, printed for the occasion of their fiftieth anniversary, celebrated on September 16, 1893. The twenty-page booklet includes a history of the department going back to the Moravian settlement of 1766, and first fire protection laws in 1773. It’s presented courtesy of Duke University’s David M. Rubenstein Rare …
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The story’s been long-told that Fayetteville received a hand engine from Boston in 1832, in the year following the great fire of May 29, 1831. But get this, it was donated by the Boston Fire Department and bought with “voluntary subscription of its members.” From the Fayetteville Observer on May 22, 1832, the engine had …
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This is a blog version of a Facebook posting created on November 14, 2022. Holiday Island Fire Brigade, created in 1984 to protect the resort community in Perquimans County. The community was located some four miles outside of the nearby Bethel VFD district. Organized in July 1984, it protected about 250 residential structures and 106 …
On September 11, 1939, a major fire in Manteo saw mutual aid arrive from far and very far away. Elizabeth City sent one or more units, from 67.3 miles away as the Google flies. As did Norfolk, VA, located 90.5 miles away today. Reported Fire Engineering magazine in their November issue, Norfolk’s new 500 Series …
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From the Coastland Times, Jan. 6, 1956, via Dare County Digital Heritage, and their extensive (and searchable!) archives of old newspapers. No other details.
Front page of the Watauga Democrat, January 1, 1953. Via the nifty North Carolina Newspapers site. Read this and other issues at https://www.digitalnc.org/newspapers/watauga-democrat-boone-n-c.