What did the “hooks” look like on the original hook and ladder trucks? Master historian Matt Lee included this picture in his 1997 book “A Pictorial History of the Fire Engine – Volume I.”[1] It’s one of the best pictures and explanations that I’ve come across. Note that there are two of them, a curved …
October 10, 2019 Here’s a factory photo of the completed truck, as posted on this Pierce Flickr page: October 30, 2018 News from Raleigh-Durham International Airport. They’ve ordered a Freightliner/Pierce pumper to replace CFR 1, a 2005 Ford F-550/4 Guys mini-pumper, 500/250/20. And it’s the first full-size pumper in the airport’s history.[1]
Here are factory photos of Cary’s twin tillers, a pair of 2019 Pierce Enforcer Ascendant 1500/200/107′ tractor-drawn aerials. New Ladder 1 and Ladder 3. Source is the Pierce Flickr page. Go there for larger versions. These are the town’s first tillers, and bump the Wake County TDA total to seven. Raleigh has four, Cary with …
He was the first man up in the morning, and the last one to bed at night. Three times a week the horses were taken out at 5 a.m. for exercise, unless they had run the night before. This meant the driver got up at 4 a.m. There were stalls to clean and horses …
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Cary Receives First of Two Tillers On September 1, 2019, the Cary Fire Department received the first of two twin tillers, a 2019 Pierce Enforcer Ascendant 1500/200/107-foot. The second is finishing production. Also, a third tiller will be (or has been?) ordered for this fiscal year. Photographer Lee Wilson was on hand, and has posted …
Time for another chart! Here’s the visual history of the steam fire engines in North Carolina, beginning with their heyday in the 1860s and 1870s. They were labor savers that transformed the hand-powered fire service, although a few steamers were also hand-pulled during their early years. See the chart in JPG format (2.4M) or PDF …
Continue reading ‘Visual History of North Carolina Steam Fire Engines’ »
For your Monday enjoyment, vintage images of Greenville and Pitt County rescue trucks, as photographed by the Daily Reflector in the 1950s and 1960s, via Joyner Library at East Carolina University, via their Digital Collections. See individual images on the Facebook side, in this photo album.
Here’s something interesting. Couple stories from 1874-75 suggesting that the Charlotte Fire Department’s famous 1866 Jeffers hand engine–see in recent years at special events statewide–was once named “Crazy Hannah.” The articles are attached below. See what you think. CFD reacquired the engine on March 28, 2012. It was originally purchased by the city in 1866, and …
Continue reading ‘Was Charlotte’s 1866 Hand Engine Named… Crazy Hannah??’ »
For your Friday enjoyment, here’s a montage of Raleigh Fire Department aerial apparatus. Every one from the beginning but not complete. The gaps start after the 2004 tiller. Photo credits are Raleigh Fire Department, Lee Wilson, Mike Legeros, Jeff Harkey, Joel Woods, Tommy Rich, and Elizabeth Reid Murray. See more photos in this Flickr collection …
Found this last week. Will add to my fallen firefighters database. Edenton Fire Department firefighter Benjamin Henry Smith, 32, was killed in an apparatus accident while returning from a chimney fire on November 28, 1947. The accident occurred about 7:30 a.m. at the intersection of West Queen and South Granville streets[1], when the fire truck …