It’s the season of engine swaps in Raleigh, with four new Pierce Sabers and four new Pierce Enforcers delivered this summer. The four Sabers were recently placed in service as Engines 21 26 27 28. The older pumpers assigned to each company have been reassigned to other companies. Here’s a tracking chart of these and …
Last updated August 17, 2025. This is an updated blog version of a Facebook posting from 2009. Research notes on civilian fatalities in fire apparatus accidents in North Carolina. Contents 2025 – Durham – Quint 19 / motorcycle, 1 fatality 2023 – Charlotte – Ladder 24 / motorcycle, 1 fatality 2019 – Kannapolis – …
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This is a blog version of a Facebook posting. Looking back at the Sedge Garden FD in Forsyth County. Photo from the Winston-Salem Journal, November 14, 1999. They were organized by the Sedge Garden Civic Club and started operating in 1951. Though the project may have been suggested as early as 1949.[1] They were the …
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This is a blog version of a Facebook posting. Looking back at McCain Sanatorium in Hoke County, which added a fire truck in early 1952, reported the Raleigh News & Observer on February 17, 1952. It was built out of “begging, bolts, screws, and the ingenuity of its driver, Paul Cloer,” who was the maintenance …
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This is a blog version of a Facebook posting. Stanly County history hit. The Albemarle Rescue and First Aid Company was using this truck in February 1953, reported the Stanley News and Press on February 27. The new truck had “already answered several calls” after having “just received the final touches, as far as equipment …
This is a blog version of a Facebook posting. Midweek montage. How about a fleet history of Roanoke Rapids Fire Department from Halifax County, NC? Readers, what’s missing? Photo credits include the late Wayne Greer and local legend Lee Wilson. See more from Lee on his Flickr page. Hint: Search on Roanoke. Shown Above 1929 Chevy/Barton …
This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from September 28, 2023. Shown are Hickory, Wilmington, Concord, Sanford, Morganton, ?, Greensboro, and Charlotte. Here’s an ongoing list of quadruple combinations or quads that have served in North Carolina. Charlotte 1949 American LaFrance 700, ___/___ – Reg #L3809 Truck 5 at Station 8, later Ladder …
This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from May 24, 2025. Let’s go back to World War II and and the North Carolina Shipbuilding Company, which was located at the current site of the state port. It built 243 ships from 1943 to 1946. They had their own fire department and at least …
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Photo credits: US Army 596th Transportation Brigade, Davis Diesel, Ray Hunt Design, Munson Boats, US Army, Hose & Nozzle Magazine. Let’s look at the fire and rescue boats of Marine Ocean Terminal Sunny Point in Brunswick County. Three fireboats going back to the 1950s plus a small rescue boat in recent years. Were there others? …
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Let’s look back at state hospital fire protection in our state and specifically Cherry Hospital outside Goldsboro. We’ve long documented the fire department and apparatus at Broughton Hospital in Morganton, but did you know that Cherry Hospital also had a fire department? First, some background. The facility first opened in 1880 and served black patients …