Not a Fire Chief’s Car From Dunn

This is a blog version of this Facebook posting.  A friend found this one: Hemmings offering for a 1917 Simplex Touring Car that the seller notes was delivered as a fire chief’s car for Dunn, NC.  That’s probably wrong. If you search the SPAAMFAA Peckham ALF registry, you’ll get this hit, which was a combination hose/chemical …

Continue reading ‘Not a Fire Chief’s Car From Dunn’ »

Chapel Hill’s New Rescue

This is a blog version of this Facebook posting. Go there for reader comments. The Chapel Hill Fire Department placed Squad 61 in service on Wednesday, April 17. It’s the department’s first rescue truck, and their first red rig in over 25 years. (Their apparatus has been Carolina Blue since 1996, with one exception, a white 2002 HME/4-Guys …

Continue reading ‘Chapel Hill’s New Rescue’ »

Vintage Photo of Charlotte Tanker

Would you believe a yellow tanker in Charlotte? This nifty picture was posted to the Fire & Rescue Apparatus 25 Years And Older group on Facebook. Photo by Dan Mack via Scott Mattson’s collection. It’s a 1972 International/Etnyre, 500/1500. As the story goes, Charlotte added these tankers when the city began growing faster than planned …

Continue reading ‘Vintage Photo of Charlotte Tanker’ »

Fire and Fire Control in Colonial Wilmington – 1975

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 …

Continue reading ‘Fire and Fire Control in Colonial Wilmington – 1975’ »

Boston Buys Fire Engine For Fayetteville – 1832

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 …

Continue reading ‘Boston Buys Fire Engine For Fayetteville – 1832’ »

Holiday Island Fire Brigade

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 …

Continue reading ‘Holiday Island Fire Brigade’ »

Building a Better Rescue

This posting is an expanded version of an article that first appeared in the fall 2018 issue of the Raleigh Fire Department Newsletter. New Rescue, New Quarters The City of Raleigh Fire Department recently placed a new heavy rescue in service, a 2018 Pierce Arrow XT that was custom-designed by department members. The truck was …

Continue reading ‘Building a Better Rescue’ »