From the May-June 1971 issue of Hose and Nozzle magazine. Piedmont Airlines prop plane made an emergency landing at Smith Reynolds Airport in Winston-Salem. Jammed landing gear forced a belly landing. Runway foaming was started, but stopped when the pilot reported that the plane had only a few more minutes of fuel. It had circled …
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The long-awaited Pullen Road extension opened yesterday. Here’s a city news release about the $3.8M project that extends Pullen Road to Centennial Campus Parkway, by way of a new roundabout at Bilyeu Street. But did you know that Avent Ferry Road originally ran through there, and connected with Western Boulevard just east of Pullen Road? Below …
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Here’s a historical treat. Tabular data of the state’s black fire companies in 1905, in Concord, Durham, Edenton, Elizabeth City, Greenville, Henderson, Monroe, Oxford, Raleigh, Rocky Mount, Salisbury, Statesville, Tarboro, Warrenton, Washington, Wilson, and Winston-Salem. Click to enlarge: These pages are from digitized conference proceedings of the North Carolina State Volunteer Firemen’s Association. They were …
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This posting is an expanded version of an article that first appeared in the fall 2018 issue of the Raleigh Fire Department Newsletter. New Rescue, New Quarters The City of Raleigh Fire Department recently placed a new heavy rescue in service, a 2018 Pierce Arrow XT that was custom-designed by department members. The truck was …
December 2 Log book excerpts added at bottom of posting. November 25 Development is comin’ to the Capital Boulevard corridor inside the Beltline. Or, perhaps, more development. The Gateway Plaza shopping center, built in 1968, is planned for Big Things. Here are a couple news stories on same, from the Triangle Business Journal (2016) and News & …
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Found in my files, Fire Engineering advertisement from 1930. Bought on eBay, probably. Pair of “Modern Mack Units” for Goldsboro. Love the footer, “We shall appreciate you mentioning Fire Engineering when writing advertisers.”
November 19 Looking More Closely… Let’s revisit our recent postings about the June 16, 1960, apparatus accident that killed Cary firefighter Vernon Thompson. Super-close cropping of the News and Observer images gives clues on the Raleigh FD response to the incident. Observe what’s seen here. Top is one of the city’s four 1951/1953 ALF 700 …
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Alert! Alert! New old photo found! The North Carolina State Archives recently added this image to their collection. It was cataloged in 2014 and one of a handful of surviving turn-of-the-century images of the Raleigh Fire Department. Call number N. 2014.9.1. It shows the Capital Hose Company competition reel team, circa 1902. They won the …
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Let’s update that posting and montage from February 2014, showing every last ladder truck operated by the Raleigh Fire Department. How many do you recognize? Here’s your cheat sheet. As for the montage, it’s a low-res quickie. With a pair of catalog images included, as a change. Don’t believe either is Raleigh’s. And one truck is …
Here’s a vintage picture that I don’t believe we’ve shared before. Truck 1 at Station 2 at Memorial Auditorium. That’s the original tiller with its new cab, a 1939 ALF cab towing a 1916 ALF trailer. Two-section, crank-operated, wooden aerial ladder. Aerial Ladder Truck 1 was originally cross-staffed with the service ladder truck, a 1922 …