April 6Transcription of the old articles added, scroll to the bottom. April 2Speaking of great fires in the city’s history, did you know that the original State Capitol was destroyed by fire? The building was called the State House and it burned one morning in June 1831. Jacob Marling painting, 1818 Awful Conflagration! June 21, 1831. Tuesday morning. …
Continue reading ‘Destruction of the State House – June 21, 1831’ »
On February 21, 2017, the City Council selected Davis Kane Architects to provide professional services for the fire department’s new Headquarters and Fire Station 1. Notes the recently published minutes (PDF), they’ll provide “architectural; engineering and other design services; environmental and surveying services; cost estimating and construction related services in anticipation of relocating Fire Station One …
Continue reading ‘Architect Selected for New Raleigh Fire Headquarters and Central Fire Station’ »
Found a neat snapshot of the county Civil Defense siren system, from September 1972. Source is an unidentified newspaper article dated September 9, 1982. Likely the Fuquay-Varina Independent. The story is about the Fuquay-Varina Rural Fire Department having recently purchased and installed a new ten-horsepower emergency warning siren. It was purchased with the aid of the …
Continue reading ‘Wake County Civil Defense Siren Snapshot – September 1972’ »
Couple updates from Johnston County. The Clayton Fire Department has placed this utility truck in service as a new Battalion Chief vehicle. It’s designated BC1. Photos from fire photographer Jason Thompson. Jason Thompson photos Meanwhile, the Benson Fire Department has placed a new Rescue 1 in service, with Raleigh’s old 1991 Simon-Duplex/E-One haz-mat truck. It …
Continue reading ‘Johnston County Updates – New Rescue in Benson, New BC Truck in Clayton’ »
Found this while researching some other topics: the crash of a B-52 bomber near Denton, NC, in Davidson County on March 30, 1961. No nuclear weapons were aboard, but six of the eight crew members were killed. No one on the ground was injured. The crash followed the January 24, 1961, crash of a B-52 …
Continue reading ‘B-52 Bomber Crashes in Davidson County – March 30, 1961’ »
Montage of Wake County rescue squad crash trucks. Missing some squads and some photos, alas. Makes, models, notes below. Pictures pulled from the History of EMS in Wake County Facebook page, and photo albums therein. Credits from here, there, and everywhere. Click to enlarge: Left to right, top to bottom: Apex #1 of 3 – …
For your Monday enjoyment, vintage photos of haz-mat equipment from Raleigh and Cary. This News and Observer photo of Raleigh’s haz-mat gear on October 24, 1984, as part of a demonstration of the city’s new haz-mat team. Comprised of personnel from Engine 2 and other fire stations, Haz-Mat 1 was placed in service on June …
Continue reading ‘Vintage Photos of Haz-Mat Equipment – Raleigh, Cary’ »
Found in my files last week, while updating my Fuquay-Varina Fire Department history timeline. This advertisement appeared in one or more local newspapers. Undated, but probably published around the time of the rural fire department’s formation in 1954. Here’s that sequence. 1925 – First fire department organized, likely named Fuquay Springs FD. 1938 – Reorganized, …
Continue reading ‘Vintage Ad – Join the Fuquay-Varina Rural FD’ »
New this week from the Legeros History Labs, a new and improved Raleigh Fire Department history chart. Now with color, and expanded from 1912 to 1925. View as JPG (1.6M) | View as PDF (1.6M)| See more charts Scroll down, to see the evolution of the design. Here’s the evolution of the design. The chart is a two-page document. …
Continue reading ‘New and Improved Raleigh Fire Department History Chart’ »
Here’s a treat, an early photo of the Holly Springs Rural Fire Department, circa mid- or maybe late 1970s. (Trying to find a date on this one.) The picture was featured on the cover of a cookbook that they produced. It’s shown at the bottom of the posting. Left is their 1974 Ford/Bean pumper, 750/750, …
Continue reading ‘Vintage Photo of Holly Springs Rural Fire Department’ »