New Hanover County Fire History – Research Notes

Wrapped another squirrel chase! This one started as a question: what’s the origin story of New Hanover’s county fire department? How did a system of community (or “rural”) volunteer fire departments (Castle Hayne, Myrtle Grove, North Wilmington, etc.) evolve into a career, county-run department? It’s story told in two parts. First, in 1950, with the …

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Vintage Commentary: Who’s Protecting Whom – Volunteer Fire Departments Talk Back

The following full-page commentary, bought as an advertisement, appeared in the Wilmington Star-News in late 1993 or early 1994.  It presents opinions of the county’s volunteer fire departments, and their reactions to recent events of the time, including the closure of North Wilmington VFD that year, new county requirements for VFDs for financial accounting, and county plans …

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Recap, Slides, Audio – Fairview Station Closure – Wake County Fire Commission Meeting – July 19, 2018

Edit history: Updated text references and file name of handout in the linked materials. They were provided by a concerned citizen, and not by the Fairview FD as originally noted. (July 21) July 20, 2018 Audio recording (by Legeros) plus presentation slides (Wake County, Garner FD) and handouts (Wake County, concerned citizen) are available here. …

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History of Wake County Fire Protection and Fire Governance

What’s the history of fire protection in Wake County, as well as the governance of that fire protection? Have been thinking about that this week, in advance of tonight’s Wake County Fire Commission meeting.  Here’s a research document (PDF) with those details. Created in 2016. Looking through the fresh eyes, there are a couple things that …

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Oak Island Fire Departments Family Tree – Long Beach, Yaupon Beach, Oak Island, Southport, Fort Caswell

New history chart!  Fire departments of Oak Island in Brunswick County: Fort Caswell Long Beach Yaupon Beach Oak Island Southport This one’s a little less complete than usual. Done entirely through remote research. And includes a few standing question. Will revise as more info is found. See earlier posting about these departments and their histories.  …

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Charlotte Fire Department Annual Reports – 1937, 1953

For your Sunday reading, annual reports of the Charlotte Fire Department for the calendar years 1937 and 1953. Lots of interesting information and great hand-drawn graphics. The 1953 report also includes hand-drawn pictures of each front-line apparatus! Scanned from bound copies at Wilson Library at the University of North Carolina, during a recent visit. Read …

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Map of Wake County Fire Districts

Here’s a Wake County GIS map of the current county fire districts (plus RDU). That is, all fire insurance districts that are funded by the county fire tax, and protected by contract arrangements with private and municipal fire departments. Annotated by Mr. Blogger, with larger icons for fire stations, and gray icons added for those handful of “new” …

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The Only Constant is Change

Next week, the Wake County Fire Commission receives presentation from Wake County Fire Services, with a concept for adding a new Garner fire station near Ten Ten Road and Highway 401. Such a facility could provide service to the areas currently served by Fairview Station 2. Whoa. On June 30, Apex EMS ceased operation. Wake …

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Visual History of Raleigh-Durham Airport Fire Department

For your holiday enjoyment, here’s another Legeros History Chart.  Raleigh-Durham International Airport fire department. AKA, RDU CFR. View as JPG | View as PDF  | See more charts Here’s the landing page. And only one typo spotted so far. The 1979 quick-response truck was a Chevy, not a Ford. Will be updated. Here’s the chart in paper form. Sometimes Mr. …

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Durham City/County Fire Merger

July 1, 2018 Durham Fire Department, Expanded, In Service! See also this history chart. Cool things happened at 7:00 a.m. today. The city of Durham Fire Department activated two new stations (Page Road, Seaton Road), and a mess of new units and companies. Some are housed at temporary quarters, as Station 17 on Leesville Road …

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