History of Durham City/County Rescue Services (MOVED)
This content has been moved to a dedicated web page at legeros.com/history/stories/durham-rescue.
Archive of posts filed under the History category.
History of Durham Fire Chiefs
Storing here, for future reference needs. Volunteer Fire Department R. D. Blacknall, 1882 to 1886 TBD, as records from 1887 to 1888 were destroyed. But some known things include Howard E. Heartt was Fire Chief in September 1888, source NCSFA organizational meeting proceedings. Howard E. Heartt, May 21, 1889 to Jan 6, 1891 Albert Kramer, …
When They Closed Station 3 in 1917
Found a piece of hidden history this week, about the original Station 3 at 135 East Hargett Street. That was the old Victor Company quarters, erected in 1898 for the all-black volunteer fire company. After the career department was activated in December 1912, the volunteer companies were disbanded. The old station reopened in February 1913, …
Orange County Rescue Histories
Let’s build a timeline. Histories of rescue services in Orange County. To be updated over the coming days and weeks. Based on this Facebook posting. See also this Google drive folder of research documents. 1963 to 1969 1963, Apr – Class project started by UNC Air Force ROTC cadets, for a civilian defense “operational survival …
The Future of Apex Station 1
This is a blog version of an earlier Facebook posting. In case you missed it, the Apex Town Council on September 3, 2019, held a work session to discuss “future plans for maintaining an operating fire station” at the Station 1 location, 210 N. Salem Street. As noted in the work session agenda item, it …
Apex Volunteer Fire Department Minutes 1956 to 1979
October 2020 Read complete research document of transcribed minutes at www.legeros.com/history/library/minutes/ November 2019 Found in my files, excerpts from transcribed minutes of the Apex Volunteer Fire Department Inc., from 1956 to 1979. Below are some highlights that caught my eye. See related historical photos in this album from the Raleigh Fire Museum: www.flickr.com/photos/raleighfiremuseum/albums/72157687765234902 Note, will …
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Fire Protection is Weak at Raleigh – 1911
The June 1911 issue of Fire & Water Engineering Magazine, Issue 24, Volume 49, featured this story on a fire protection report issued by the National Board of Fire Underwriters. Read more about the 1911 report, as well as the 1924 report and 1931 report. Editor’s Note: This report compelled city officials to reorganize the …
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Brad Harvey as Interim Fire Chief
This was originally posted to Legeros Fire Line as a Facebook posting. Who’s the new Car 1 in Raleigh, following the retirement of Chief McGrath on [November 1]? Last week, interim Chief of Department was announced as… drum roll… retired Asst. Chief Brad Harvey. More on Chief McGrath’s retirement in a moment. Chief Harvey came …
Raleigh Retrospective – 2006 to 2019
The city of Raleigh has been served by sixteen career Fire Chiefs since 1912. And effective [tomorrow, November 1, 2019], Fire Chief John T. McGrath has retired. That’s a historical milestone, as he’s the city’s second-longest serving fire chief, with 13.8 years of service. Only Chief Keeter (1955 to 1973) had a longer tenure, with …
Greensboro’s 1904 American LaFrance Steam Engine #496
Here’s a history of American LaFrance steam engine #496, built in 1904 for Greensboro, NC, and later owned by private collectors in North Carolina and Florida, and finally residing at Cedar Point Amusement Park in Ohio. The restored steamer is being auctioned. This text and these images were copied from the auction listing. “Built for …
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