Blog version of a Facebook posting. Last updated October 12, 2026. Presenting research notes on Oak Island and nearby fire departments, originally created as an announcement of the ending of the Yaupon Beach Fire Department in Brunswick County. Effective July 1, 2018, the town of Caswell Beach was contracted with the town of Southport for …
Continue reading ‘Long Beach, Yaupon Beach, Oak Island, Southport – History Notes’ »
Learned a good lesson the other day. I’ve long-used shorthand, for noting the concept of “one year or the next year.” For example, writing “the fire truck was a 1950 or 1951 Ford” as “the fire truck was a 1950-51 Ford.” No problem, right? But watch what happens here: 1950 – The fire department was organized. 1951 …
For your Saturday reading pleasure, a vintage document from Monroe, NC. Constitution and by-laws of Monroe Fire Company No. 1. Undated, probably from early 1900s. Scanned from physical copy at Wilson Library at UNC, part of the North Carolina Collection. Call number Cp971.90 M75m1 Read the document (PDF, 2 MB)
This posting was originally posted on Facebook, on the Chapel Hill Fire Department Retirees & History page. Every part of a community is invariably impacted by fire. And as the clock is turned back, toward simpler times with fewer priorities on life safety and fire prevention, the numbers of destructive blazes invariably rise. Here’s a list …
Continue reading ‘Fraternity Fires in Chapel Hill – 1909 to 2001’ »
“Believed to be the only ambulance as such owned by a volunteer fire department in North Carolina,” noted the Duplin Times on July 14, 1955. See article below Definitely one of the earliest. What other volunteer (only) departments were operating ambulances at that time? That’s the open question to readers, to accompany these neat pictures …
Continue reading ‘Kenansville Fire Department Starts Ambulance Service, 1955’ »
Mack CF pumpers were popular trucks in these parts. Chapel Hill had a 1980 model… that was almost a Seagrave. Here’s that story. After soliciting bids for a new pumping engine that year, the town awarded the contract to Seagrave for $112,832.35. The other bidders were Central Mack Sales in Raleigh, Howe Fire Apparatus, Jack Cocke …
Continue reading ‘Chapel Hill’s 1980 Mack… Was Almost a Seagrave’ »
Wait, what? See these town minutes* from February 16, 1963. As it turns out, Chapel Hill’s 1962** American LaFrance pumper was a gently used model, that had been serving at the “Greenville airbase” for about three months, while the airport awaited delivery of a crash truck. Bought for $20,500, versus what would cost $26,000 new. As was customary …
Continue reading ‘Chapel Hill Buys Ex-Airport Pumper, 1963’ »
Update April 11, 2019 – Though initially suspected as caused by a natural gas explosion, it was later eliminated by investigators. Instead, they suspect a backdraft caused the explosion. See the detailed OSFM retrospective below. Updated this posting headline, changing “gas explosion” to “explosion” to reflect that important clarification. This retrospective first appeared on FireNews.net …
Continue reading ‘Four Shelby Firefighters Killed in Explosion, May 25, 1979’ »
In February 2018, the town of Zebulon received the results of a fire facilities and fleet study (pdf) conducted by Brooks Innovative Solutions, from Greensboro. It examined the fire department’s current infrastructure, historic and projected call volume and service now, and property and population development past ‘n’ present. And both in the municipal and rural fire …
Continue reading ‘Zebulon Fire Department Facility and Fleet Study’ »
The local city and county governments have been releasing their proposed budgets for FY19. Here are some highlights, from around the area… Raleigh – Web Site No added positions New aerial ladder New pumper Funding for long-term staffing study Funding for driver-operator course planning ($200,000) Station 1 project funding, continued ($15.6M) Absent is Station 3 or …