Raleigh Fire Department – Milestones Poster
Here’s a chart of milestones of the Raleigh Fire Department, created in 2013 for the Raleigh Fire Museum. View as PDF.
Archive of posts filed under the History category.
Visual History of Raleigh Fire Stations
This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from April 2021. New from the Legeros History Labs. Each and every iteration of city fire stations with multiple versions. Plus the training tower and shop. Plus pics of all the one-and-done (to date) stations. View JPG | PDF See other visual histories
Raleigh-Wake County Rescue Medic Proposal, 1976
This is an updated version of a blog archives posting from April 2011. Let’s go back in time to 1976, when city and county officials were working to provide a better level of emergency medical service to residents of Raleigh and its suburban areas outside the city limits. Funeral homes hadn’t transported patients for about …
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Comparing Charlotte’s SouthPark and Raleigh’s Metropolitan Fires
Let’s comparing and contrasting Charlotte’s SouthPark fire (May 2023) and Raleigh’s Metropolitan fire (March 2017). See our prior posting about the Charlotte fire. Charlotte SouthPark Fire May 18, 2023 7740 Liberty Row Drive Five alarms Raleigh Metropolitan Fire March 16, 2017 400 W. North Street Five alarms Building Apartments under construction Seven stories, …
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Johnston County Foam Units
This content was originally posted on Facebook in May 2020. In the late 1970s, the first foam unit in Johnston County was created as a project of the Johnston County Firemen’s Association. The tractor-drawn tanker had a circa 1970 White 4000 tractor and a 1957 Heil tanker body, 6000 gallons, that had been modified to …
Fire Museum Moves to Blowing Rock, 1959
Note: See also these two active Facebook threads: Legeros Fire Line and SPAAMFAA (private group) Watauga Democrat, May 28, 1959. In May 1959, the fire equipment and fire apparatus collection of Vincent K. O’Meara of Hialeah, FL, was moved to the Tweetsie Railroad attraction in Blowing Rock, NC. The collection had previously been displayed at …
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Baker Fire Apparatus of Charlotte
This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from October 2020. Left to right, top to bottom: Boone (two photos), Winston-Salem (Micah Bodford Collection), Carmel (Micah Bodford Collection). What’s the history of Baker Manufacturing of Charlotte and the fire apparatus they built? They were the Charlotte branch of the Richmond company that later built …
Raleigh Recruit Academy Historical Facts and Figures
Raleigh Recruit Academies 50 (short) and 51 (long) started this week. Here are some historical facts ‘n’ figures about the recruit academies. Largest graduating class – Academy 48 (2002) – 49 grads Followed by #41 (2016) with 37 grads, #42 (2017) with 36 grads, #23 (1999) with 36 grads, etc. Smallest graduating class – Academy …
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Three Asheville Firefighters Killed in Bostian Bridge Train Wreck, 1891
This posted was updated in March 2023 with an important correction, about the correct names of the three firefighters killed. It’s also been expanded with new narratives about the incident and its aftermath, and converted to a linked PDF document. On August 27, 1891, three Asheville firemen were killed and three others were injured when …
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Elon College and a Tale of Two Fire Departments
The story is a familiar one. Members of a municipal-based fire department separate themselves into a second group to serve rural residents. A second organization fire department is formed. The resulting relationship between the two departments can be good or not so good. The latter was the case in Elon College in Alamance County in the …
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