Here’s your Monday morning treat. Vintage photos of public safety vehicles at North Carolina State University. They were taken by David Raynor in the 1980s. He’s a blog reader, fire buff, and former law officer who lived in Raleigh and Greensboro in his day. We’ve shared some of his vintage pictures before, and will have …
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The Concord Fire Department will display a restored hand-drawn ladder wagon this weekend, at the Pennzoil Charlotte AutoFair at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. As this Independent Tribute story (thanks Josh!) by Erin Kidd reports, the 129-year-old wagon was used by the Concord Hook and Ladder Company in 1887. That was a company of black firefighters …
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Factory photo of Chapel Hill’s new Engine 31, 2016 Pierce Arrow XT pumper, 1500/500. See larger versions via Pierce on Flickr. This only the second Pierce for the college town, after a 2012 Pierce Arrow XT, 1500/500, which is Engine 33. Who has built the rest of their fire apparatus over the years and decades. …
As photographed by Lee Wilson, the Fuquay-Varina Fire Department received their new rescue on Tuesday. Their new Rescue 1 is a 2016 Spartan MetroStar. It replaces a 1995 Freightliner/S&S, which will be sold. See more photos from Lee. How many custom-cab rescues does that make in Wake County, these days? Here’s the list: Apex, Cary …
[ Updated with more info. on the truck’s history. ] From a reader, this former Bay Leaf midi pumper was found in Erwin, TN. Former Unicio FD Engine 3, 1979 Chevrolet C-70/Pierce, 400/400. E0155. (Thanks Micah, for the specs!) Another reader (via our Facebook page) tells that the truck was bought by Fire Chief D. …
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Would you believe an Oshkosh M-23 (rare civilian version of the legendary P-15) as a tanker for a Tennessee resort community? This story from the Times Free Press has been making the rounds. There’s a development called Jasper Highlights in Marion County, TN. The area was previously covered by the Foster Falls FD, but last …
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It’s airport week at Blog Central! Time for some time travel… Raleigh-Durham International Airport has operated four Walter crash trucks in its day, the first being a 1959 Class 1500 that was acquired some time around 1970. Below is the closest we have to a posed photo of the thing. Click to enlarge: News & …
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June 23, 2019 Here’s a posting about the entire painter’s log, added to my new digital history library: https://legeros.com/blog/seagrave-paint-log-1906-1951. March 20, 2016 What do the pages of the painter’s log look like? Here’s an example: And here’s a page that mentions Tarboro, North Carolina. Page 119, from 1933. The notation says something like “April 18th, …
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The Redwood Fire Department in Durham County recently received this 2016 Kenworth T-800/U.S. Tanker Patriot elliptical tanker, capacity 3000 gallons, plus pump. Designated Tanker 715. See more photos from Lee Wilson.
Found on eBay, vintage image of Greensboro’s lighting unit, which appeared in a 1954 ad for Onan. Notes the accompanying ad copy, “built to the specifications of the [department], this power unit incorporates many new ideas. Both sides of the truc, for instance, hold identical equipment. Located in the many steel compartments are four 500-watt …
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