Archive of posts filed under the History category.

Kinston Public Safety Splits Into Fire, Police Departments

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Belated news from Lenoir County. On July 1, the Kinston Department of Public Safety was split into separate fire and police departments. Local news–Kinston Free Press, WITN–have been covering same. The departments merged in 2004, when a special response unit was created of fourteen cross-trained police officers and firefighters. The split originated after the retirement …

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Vintage Photo of Henderson Ford/Howe Engine by Tony Kelly

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Found for sale on eBay is this postcard view of Henderson Engine 5, a 1970s (?) Ford/Howe pumper-tanker. The back reads “North Carolina Fire Apparatus post cards, from the collection of Tony D. Kelly. Collection consists of approximately 200 cards such as this one for trade.” And with his address of “Kinston, NC, 28501.” The …

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Guest Post – My Antique Fire Trucks by George Mills

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By George Mills, a former Chief of Bay Leaf VFD Last year Mike asked to me write a posting about antique fire trucks. Here’s that article from August 2015, where I wrote about several restored and decaying American LaFrance rigs in North Carolina. This time I’m write about my antiques. Beginning with my first, a …

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Hose & Nozzle Stories, 1967 – Wake Fireman Breaks Leg, Winston-Salem Fire-Police Vehicles Damaged, etc.

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Random page of stories from the May-June 1969 issue of Hose & Nozzle magazine. Wake [County] Fireman Breaks Leg; Thomasville [Fire] Truck Involved in Wreck; Two Cleveland Firemen Injured; Winston-Salem Fire-Police Vehicles Damaged. Winston-Salem fire police, you say? Here’s a blog posting about that entity, which was created in in late 1957. Looks like they …

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Cary Fire Chief Changes in 1966 & 1967

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Found a pair of Hose & Nozzle magazine issues from early 1967, that tell about the fire chief changes in Cary during the time. Editorial notes are interspersed: March-April 1967: Matthews Named Chief at Cary Retired RALEIGH Fire Captain [wrong, was Asst. Chief, see below] Lee Matthews has been named acting chief of the Cary …

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Remembering the Fire Station at Memorial Auditorium

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Did you know that Memorial Auditorium once contained a fire station? The performance hall that’s today called the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts was dedicated in August 1932 as “War Memorial Auditorium.” It was named as it was a memorial to the solders that died in World War I, and replaced the earlier …

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Vintage Photo of Foscoe Fire Department

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From their Facebook page, here’s a vintage photo of the Foscoe Fire Department in Watagua County. They were organized in 1971 and their first fire station was this one-story block ‘n’ brick building at 8599 Highway 105 South. Twenty years later, they moved to a new fire station at 9230 Highway 105 South. In recent …

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Vintage Wilmington Fire Apparatus in 1997

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Vintage Wilmington fire apparatus as photographed in September 1997. Wait, when did trucks from the 1980s start qualifying as vintage?!? Courtesy of David Raynor, a blog reader, fire buff, and former law officer who lived in Raleigh and Greensboro in his day. Pictured left to right, top to bottom: 1987 Ford/Grumman pumper, 1000/500 1985 Ford/Quality …

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