Passed along from our friends at the Henderson Fire Department is this Flickr album of vintage pictures of the Henderson High School fire on April 3, 1968. They were taken by Lyman McLean, a freelance photographer who worked for both the Henderson Daily Dispatch and the police department. The shots are from his personal collection, and now part …
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This posting was originally created in January 2017 and has been updated in August 2025 to incorporate later content. Vintage Badge Found for sale on eBay, a vintage Wilmington airport fire department badge, back when the airport was called Bluethenthal Field. It was named for aviator Arthur Bluethenthal, the first person from Wilmington killed in …
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On November 22, 1967, Statesville Fire Captain Lee Roy Horton, 41, was killed in a bomb blast, when his booby-trapped personal vehicle exploded beside Station 2 on Security Drive. This unusual story comes by way of the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Foundation. They’ve announced this year’s honorees to be added to the state memorial on …
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Belated posting. Whispering Pines Fire Department Lt. Donald “Reid” Key II died on December 27, two days after developing a headache, after returning to the station following a fire call. The headache worsened the following day, and his wife took him to Moore County Regional Hospital in Pinehurst. After an evaluation, he was airlifted to …
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On December 21, the Durham Highway Fire Department changed the unit numbers of their apparatus. They’re now using a numbering scheme that’s based on their Wake County fire station numbers: Durham Highway joins the following other Wake County fire departments, that also use that numbering scheme: Bay Leaf – 12/120s, 25/250s, 36/360s Hopkins – …
November 18, 2019 Found some more information, from this Durham Morning Herald story, December 28, 1950: “Glen Lennox Residents Get New Fire Truck – Chapel Hill, Dec. 27 – Residents of the Glen Lennox housing project awoke Christmas morning to the music of a fire siren and looked out of their windows to view the …
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Vintage article from a publication called Carolina Rural Fireman, in April 1982. Thanks to our friend Joseph Zalkin for finding in his archives. About the first county fire department First Responder program implemented by the Fairview Fire Department. Other early implementations included the City of Raleigh (1977, first field use; 1980, city-wide), Raleigh-Durham Airport (1978), …
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From his archives of retired Wake County EMS veteran Joseph Zalkin comes this 19-minute short film, A Will and a Way – The Story of Emergency Medical Services in North Carolina. Produced by the North State Office of EMS with a grant from the North Carolina Association of Insurance Agents, it describes the evolution of the …
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The town of Chapel Hill is preparing to demolish Fire Station 2 on Hamilton Road. It will be rebuilt as part of a commercial development on the site. Engine 2 will move to temporary quarters in a modular home at 204 Finley Golf Course Road. They’ll be moving around the end of the month. Construction will …
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This week, Engine 2 moved into temporary quarters at the old city radio/signals/sign shop on South Wilmington Street, in preparation for the renovation of their Pecan Road engine house. See this earlier blog post for information on the “down to the walls” rebuild. This makes the fifth location for Station 2 since the career fire department …