Rural Fire Protection Origins – Guilford County

How did rural fire protection begin in North Carolina? That’s been a nagging question for a few years now. We posted this historical perspective from 1977, with excerpts from a state government document.  But how about some details? What were the developments among individual counties? We’ve asked inputs on our Facebook fire page, in this …

Continue reading ‘Rural Fire Protection Origins – Guilford County’ »

Greensboro Fire Department’s First Rescue Truck, 1944

November 18 From our friends at GFD, here’s a color(ized) photo of the rescue truck, along with other apparatus and vehicles at (old) Central Fire Station on North Greene Street. Click once or twice to enlarge: August 15 In October 1944, the Greensboro Fire Department placed their first rescue truck in service. By my estimate, …

Continue reading ‘Greensboro Fire Department’s First Rescue Truck, 1944’ »

Active Shooter in Apex – May 30, 2010

This is a re-posting of a Legeros Blog Archives posting from May 30, 2010, that’s no longer available on the old site, due to technical problems. It was originally titled “This morning’s shooting in Apex.” Double shooting at 1201 Beaver Creek Commons Drive, at Target store. Dispatched about 11:09 a.m. Law enforcement response included Apex, …

Continue reading ‘Active Shooter in Apex – May 30, 2010’ »

B-17 Bomber Crashes in Garner, May 9, 1944

The News & Observer this week published an excellent retrospective of the B-17 bomber crash[1] in Garner on May 9, 1944. The Flying Fortress crashed into a wooded area around 5:30 p.m. near the intersection of Garner and Vandora Springs Roads.  [1] Link now broken, http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article166514322.html Two crew members were killed, and either others parachuted to safety. …

Continue reading ‘B-17 Bomber Crashes in Garner, May 9, 1944’ »

Carolina Beach Expands Fire Station, Plus Some History, 2013

This is a re-posting of a Legeros Blog Archives posting from June 29, 2013, that’s no longer available on the old site, due to technical problems. Here’s a neat story [link broken] from the Island Gazette about the expansion of the Carolina Beach Fire Department at 9 South Dow Road. They’re expanding their station with a …

Continue reading ‘Carolina Beach Expands Fire Station, Plus Some History, 2013’ »

Moving Rex Hospital, 1980

This is a re-posting of a Legeros Blog Archives posting from December 7, 2009, that’s no longer available on the old site, due to technical problems. On Sunday, September 28, 1980, fifteen ambulances assisted with moving 170 patients from Rex Hospital on St. Mary’s Street to their new location on Lake Boone Trail.1 Teams of …

Continue reading ‘Moving Rex Hospital, 1980’ »

Updated – The Zoo, Their First Fire Truck, And Some Questions

August 5, 2017After a visit to the Asheboro public library, and the local history room, I’ve updated this posting with more information. See the Courier-Tribune citations below. March 24, 2016Did you know that the North Carolina Zoo had a fire truck? And that the truck originally served in Wake County? As the story goes, the Six Forks …

Continue reading ‘Updated – The Zoo, Their First Fire Truck, And Some Questions’ »

Charlotte Fire Department Rules & Regulations, 1940

This is a re-posting of a 2009 blog post, from our blogs archive site. It was originally posted http://legeros.com/ralwake/photos/weblog/pivot/entry.php?id=2582 at on September 12, 2009.  For your Saturday evening enjoyment, here’s a small booklet bought on eBay of Charlotte Fire Department rules and regulations from 1940. The contents includes duties for all ranks and roles, directives …

Continue reading ‘Charlotte Fire Department Rules & Regulations, 1940’ »

Early History of Greensboro-High Point Airport Fire Department

For your weekend reading, let’s tool over to the Triad, for an early history of the Greensboro-High Point airport fire department. And an early history of Guilford County Fire Services, which provided the “crash crew” staffing starting in 1966.  The story starts in 1962, with the deadly crash of a military transport and the resulting criticism …

Continue reading ‘Early History of Greensboro-High Point Airport Fire Department’ »

Voice of America Fire Department

In 1962, construction of the world’s largest radio broadcasting station was completed in eastern North Carolina. Built by the United States government for its Voice of America shortwave service, the facility was spread across three sites in two counties. Site A (Beaufort) and Site B (Pitt) housed the transmitting facilities. They were nearly identical, each about 2750 …

Continue reading ‘Voice of America Fire Department’ »