First Fire Department in North Carolina?

This content first appeared as a Facebook posting in August 2021.  Hey Mike, which fire department was the first in North Carolina? Great question. Let’s tease out an answer. First, some ground rules. For our purposes, fire department = fire company, as that was the verbiage of colonial times. Second, fire companies do NOT include …

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First Rated Rural Water Supply – Nahunta FD, 1979

Note: See this Facebook posting for comments and discussion about this blog posting. This posting was updated on November 14, 2021 On August 1, 1979, the Nahunta Volunteer Fire Department in Wayne County became the first rural fire department in both North Carolina and the nation to receive a municipal fire insurance rating, because of …

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Auxiliary Trucks During the Forties

Contents Introduction Durham’s Auxiliary Trucks Wilmington’s Auxiliary Trucks Sources Introduction How many cities in North Carolina operated “auxiliary trucks” in the 1940s and later? Show are trucks from Wilmington, Raleigh, and Durham.  The top photo, from a photocopy, appears in Wilmington Fire Department 1897-1985. More  on their auxiliary trucks below. The middle photo is Raleigh’s 1948 …

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Oak View Fire Department History

Research notes on the history of the Oak View Fire Department in Guilford County, which protected the Oakview community just outside the old city limits of High Point. They were chartered in 1952, started operating in 1955/56, and merged with the city on January 1, 1960.  Newspaper Citations See some of these articles in this …

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SAFRE 2021 – The 100 Year Report

One-hundred years and two weeks ago, the 34th annual convention of the North Carolina State Firefighter’s Association opened in Gastonia (pop. 12,871 in 1920). The three-day event was preceded by a reception for delegates and visiting tournament teams on Monday, August 22. The convention formally opened at 11:00 a.m. the following day, at the Gaston …

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Raleigh Adds Shift Safety Officers

Big day in Raleigh yesterday. Safety Officer 14 was placed in service at 0800 hours on Saturday, July 17, 2021, the first shift-assigned incident safety officers (ISO) for the department.[1] Staffed by three seasoned captains, the unit is based at Station 14, and is automatically dispatched on structure fires, haz-mat calls, and technical rescue calls. …

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Charlotte in Yellow

This is a version of an earlier Facebook posting. Here’s view of a vintage Charlotte Seagrave 70th Anniversary Series pumper in yellow, along with other not-red units of the time. The 1966 model, nicknamed “the Chiquita Banana”, was one of two that were bought as a pair. Recounts retired Charlotte Battalion Chief Kenneth Shane Nantz, they …

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