Camp Lejeune Fire Stations Past and Present
Research notes on Camp Lejeune fire stations, plus a montage of photos created in 2015, with photos by Pete Brock and Lee Wilson (last image). Read research notes (PDF)
Archive of posts filed under the History category.
Winston-Salem and Forsyth County Ambulance and Rescue History
Presenting research notes on ambulance, rescue, and EMS history in Winston-Salem and Forsyth County. See Google drive of source articles (forthcoming) Read research notes (forthcoming). 1930 to 1949 1937 – Winston-Salem Rescue Squad organized. First rescue squad in the state. They performed rescue functions but no transport services. 1950 to 1959 1958 – Winston-Salem Light …
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Greensboro and Guilford County Ambulance and Rescue History
Presenting research notes on ambulance, rescue, and EMS history in Greensboro and Guilford County. See Google drive of source articles. Read research notes. Timeline Pre-History 1910 – First ambulance was a horse-drawn unit, operated from 1910 to 1915. Sold to a woman’s group, likely the Greensboro Ambulance Association. They mounted the carriage on a truck …
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Radiator Specialty Company Explosion – November 26, 1980
This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from April 6, 2025. Looking back at the Radiator Specialty Company explosion and fire in Union County, NC, on November 26, 1980, from newspaper accounts in the Charlotte News and Charlotte Observer over the next couple days. On a Wednesday morning, just after 9 a.m., an …
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Charlotte and Mecklenburg County Rescue and EMS History
Presenting researching notes on the history of rescue and ambulance services in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Read research notes (pdf) See Google Drive folder of clippings. Summary Before 1960 1921 – First advertisements appear for ambulance services in newspapers. Operators are car and taxi companies. 1926 – Funeral homes begin adding ambulance services. 1947 – …
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Kernersville Helicopter Rescue and Crash, September 25 1984
This is a blog version of a Facebook posting on March 25, 2025 Recounting the fatal helicopter crash in downtown Kernersville on September 25, 1984, during the attempted rescue/recovery of an injured worker atop a decommissioned water tower. The incident started about 6:10 p.m. after 19 year-old Charles Glenwood Tompkins Jr. as injured while working …
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The Davie Street Fire in Greensboro – April 13, 1985
Joseph Rodriguez / Greensboro News and Record photos On April 13, 1985, the largest fire in Greensboro’s history destroyed turn-of-the-last-century warehouse buildings–including some that were nearly finished being renovated into apartments–on both sides of the 300 block of South Davie Street. The three-alarm fire was battled for hours, it destroyed and severely damaged seven buildings, …
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Cold War History – Ground Observer Corps
Added Information – 2025 On April 16, 1956, Raleigh City Council approved a request from Civil Defense authorities to use the fifth floor of the Raleigh Fire Department drill tower as a temporary ground observer station. See excerpt below, as well as council’s rejection of establishing an observatory post in the Jaycee Park. By December …
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Renovations at Raleigh Fire Station 7
Renovations are poised to start at Raleigh Fire Station 7 at 2100 Glascock Street. The 1959 engine house will be upgraded with improvements including new bathrooms and showers, new windows and flooring, LED lighting, and bifold bay doors. During the estimated four-month project, Squad 7 will move to Fire Station 11 at 2925 Glenridge Road. …
Tarrytown Mall Fire – August 12, 1967
Bucket trucks working. Let’s look back at the Tarrytown Mall fire in Rocky Mount on August 12, 1967. Was the first enclosed mall in eastern North Carolina, the third enclosed mall in the state, and the 26th enclosed mall in the United States. (The first was Southdale in Edina, MN, a suburb of Minneapolis, and …