Contract for New Chapel Hill Fire House – August 1921

From excerpts of town minutes, as recorded as a nine-page typed document for the fire department.  Aug. 9, 1921 – P.154 Contract for  new Fire House with  J. T.  Squires for  $3,988. 18  X   40  ft. inside. Wall foundation  to  be 21″ thick;  1st story 13″ thick; 2nd  story 8″ thick. 1st floor to  be 4″  …

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Remembering the Raleigh Riots, April 1968

This month marks a grim anniversary–fifty years since the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on April 4, 1968. He was shot at a motel in Memphis and pronounced dead at 6:05 p.m. EST.  Riots soon erupted across the state* and nation**. It was the greatest wave of social unrest in the United States …

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Vintage Photo of Greensboro Civil Defense Rescue Squad

Found for sale on eBay, vintage photo of Greensboro’s 1967 International/Boyertown Civil Defense rescue squad.  Model year is more likely 1962, as cited on this page of history about Guilford County Fire Services. It was delivered in the fall of 1962 and operated as city-county rescue unit. That said, other sources have cited the vehicle …

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North Carolina Rescue Squad History (2013)

This is a re-posting of a Blog Archives posting that is no longer available. It was originally posted on May 5, 2013. Introduction What was were the first rescue squads in North Carolina? This question was recently discussed on Facebook. Below are some of the highlights Note that “rescue squad” often meant the equivalent of …

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Old Oshkosh P-15 Crash Truck in Goldsboro (2014)

This is a re-posting of a Blog Archives post that is no longer available. It was originally posted on May 23, 2014. Photographs From 2014 See Flickr album. Posting From 2014 Need an excuse for a Memorial Day Weekend road trip? Tool down to Goldsboro to behold this 1990 Oshkosh P-15 military crash truck. It’s …

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Vintage Photo of Garner’s 1958 Ford/American LaFrance Pumper (2015)

This is a re-posting of a Blog Archives post that’s no longer available. It was original posted on October 22, 2015. Found via the SPAAMFAA on Facebook, via this posting from Scott Mattson, here’s a rare color photo of Garner’s 1958 Ford F-600/American LaFrance pumper, 500/500. (Original capacity was 300 gallons.) Was the second new …

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Save the Date – Preserving Your Fire Department Heritage – August 10, 2018

Save the date in August when the state firefighters convention returns to Raleigh, and Mr. Blogger becomes Mr. Speaker.  Preserving Your Fire Department Heritage South Atlantic FIRE RESCUE Expo Raleigh Convention Center Friday, August 10, 2018 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. Workshop Description The history of a fire department is a rich tapestry that combines …

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From 2008, Evaluating and Applying Closure Criteria to Western Wake Station 2

Found this the other week: Western Wake Fire Station #2 – Evaluation and Application of Fire Commission’s Closure Criteria. From 2008 or abouts. (It’s undated.) View the document (22MB, PDF). The document detailed the recommendation to close Western Wake Fire Station #2, to reduce cost and improve service through contracted fire protection with the town of …

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Better Photo of Chief Butts… Found!

In 2012, the Raleigh Fire Department published a centennial history book. The project committee included Mr. Blogger, AKA Mr. Historian. For the histories of the Chief of Department, we needed portraits of each person. But their quality varied greatly. One better picture needed was Fire Chief William Ralph Butts, who served 1941 to 1947. We had a scratchy …

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