As Hurricane Florence approaches, many in Raleigh are remembering Fran from 22 years ago. The storm struck the city with hurricane-force winds on Thursday night, September 5, 1996. During a three-day period, the Raleigh Fire Department answered nearly 700 calls, with call types ranging from fires (46) and medical emergencies (142), to flooding (33) and trees …
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 …
Continue reading ‘New Hanover County Fire History – Research Notes’ »
Found for sale on eBay. Readers can add makes/models/years. Look like (bad) scans of physical prints. Maybe some of Tony Kelly’s postcard pics, from back in the day? Click to (slightly) enlarge:
Random historical artifact, by way of the New Hanover County Library’s North Carolina Room. Technical report on the county (and city) fire protection. Includes a four-page response from the volunteer fire departments, clarifying and refuting some points. Includes some nifty details of the time, including a Wilmington FD org chart, and a list of all …
Continue reading ‘Wilmington-New Hanover County Fire Protection Report – 1971’ »
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 …
August 27, 2018Now Open! The city’s newest fire station was activated on Monday, August 13. Beginning that morning, Engine 12 and Battalion 2 personnel began moving personal belongings from their old station. Ladder 8 also moved, from Station 26 on Barwell Road. And the platoon Division Chief, Car 20, moved from the basement of Station 8 …
Found for sale on eBay, scans of photographs of the Frisco (Dare) and Triangle (Davidson) fire departments. Both from the 1970s, say seller notes. The Frisco picture is a grayscale scan from the seller.
The Garner Fire Department has relocated their administrative offices. They moved into new space this month at 914 7th Avenue, a town building that previously served as a temporary town hall, while the new one was being built. Their new HQ as built in 1997 and has 18,072 square-feet, say tax records. Previously a commercial …
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 …
Continue reading ‘History of Wake County Fire Protection and Fire Governance’ »
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. …