We learned on Sunday of the passing of Severn Fire Chief Kevin Britt, who died on Saturday after suffering a medical emergency at his home, after responding to a motor-vehicle collision. See this [FireNews.net] story as well as his obituary [link expired:http://www.rrspin.com/obituaries/item/12581-david-kevin-britt.html]. He’s the eighth line of duty death in North Carolina thus far this …
Continue reading ‘Eight Line of Duty Deaths So Far This Year’ »
Found for sale on eBay, small print of Cherokee Fire Department’s 1964 Ford/American LaFrance, 750 GPM pumper. Click to slightly enlarge:
Random page of stories from the May-June 1969 issue of Hose & Nozzle magazine. Wake [County] Fireman Breaks Leg; Thomasville [Fire] Truck Involved in Wreck; Two Cleveland Firemen Injured; Winston-Salem Fire-Police Vehicles Damaged. Winston-Salem fire police, you say? Here’s a blog posting about that entity, which was created in in late 1957. Looks like they …
Last week, on Tuesday, June 7, Raleigh firefighters, police officers, and friends, family, and supporters met at the Municipal Building on Hargett Street, in advance of a public hearing on the proposed budget for FY17. (See the budget documents.) They came with signs and matching shirts (for fire)–“would you do this job 56 hours a …
Continue reading ‘Raleigh Fire and Police Want Higher Salaries’ »
The Fayetteville Observer today includes this story by Andrew Barksdale about the Fayetteville Fire Department’s efforts to improve the number of minority firefighters. Solid story, though invoking a quite a few negative reaction among readers, at least on the paper’s Facebook posting of the story. (Yeah, yeah, never read the comments after a story. It’ll …
Continue reading ‘Comparing Numbers of Minority Firefighters in North Carolina’s Largest Cities’ »
Lee Wilson found this one, and shared on social media. Would you believe a converted Caterpillar 740B articulated all-terrain construction vehicle converted into a heavy-duty fire truck complete with aerial platform? Cobra Petro Projects built the thing which is believed to be a world’s first. (At least with the aerial platform added. We’ve seen similar …
Continue reading ‘Articulated All-Terrain Aerial Platform Fire Truck From South Africa’ »
Found a pair of Hose & Nozzle magazine issues from early 1967, that tell about the fire chief changes in Cary during the time. Editorial notes are interspersed: March-April 1967: Matthews Named Chief at Cary Retired RALEIGH Fire Captain [wrong, was Asst. Chief, see below] Lee Matthews has been named acting chief of the Cary …
What s happening with fire station construction and/or planning around Raleigh and Wake County? Here’s your spring 2016 update, for both municipal and county departments. Sources are direct queries to nearly every Fire Chief in the county, or their staff. Plus sundry budget documents or news stories. Thanks all for answering my questions. Signed, Planning …
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Did you know that Memorial Auditorium once contained a fire station? The performance hall that’s today called the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts was dedicated in August 1932 as “War Memorial Auditorium.” It was named as it was a memorial to the solders that died in World War I, and replaced the earlier …
Continue reading ‘Remembering the Fire Station at Memorial Auditorium’ »
Two alarms were struck in northeast Raleigh late Saturday afternoon, with two duplexes damaged after an accidental outdoor fire started. Engine 21 was dispatched 2420 Pumpkin Ridge Way at 5:21 p.m. for an outside fire. Within a minute it was upgraded with a structure fire response dispatched at 5:22 p.m. and adding E27, E11, E19, …
Continue reading ‘Two Alarms on Pumpkin Ridge Way on Saturday’ »