This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from October 2020. Left to right, top to bottom: Boone (two photos), Winston-Salem (Micah Bodford Collection), Carmel (Micah Bodford Collection). What’s the history of Baker Manufacturing of Charlotte and the fire apparatus they built? They were the Charlotte branch of the Richmond company that later built …
Raleigh Recruit Academies 50 (short) and 51 (long) started this week. Here are some historical facts ‘n’ figures about the recruit academies. Largest graduating class – Academy 48 (2002) – 49 grads Followed by #41 (2016) with 37 grads, #42 (2017) with 36 grads, #23 (1999) with 36 grads, etc. Smallest graduating class – Academy …
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This posted was updated in March 2023 with an important correction, about the correct names of the three firefighters killed. It’s also been expanded with new narratives about the incident and its aftermath, and converted to a linked PDF document. On August 27, 1891, three Asheville firemen were killed and three others were injured when …
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The story is a familiar one. Members of a municipal-based fire department separate themselves into a second group to serve rural residents. A second organization fire department is formed. The resulting relationship between the two departments can be good or not so good. The latter was the case in Elon College in Alamance County in the …
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Presenting a master list of all tractor-drawn tankers that have served in North Carolina, including foam units and Air Force runway foamers. View the document (PDF)
Last updated February 6, 2023 – Content converted from web page to PDF document. This is a re-posting of a Legeros Blog Archives posting from December 21, 2013, that’s no longer available on the old site, due to technical problems. Presenting a master list of all articulating platforms, including snorkels, that have served in North …
This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from August 14, 2020. Tale of a tragedy. Early in the morning of Tuesday, July 14, 1942, a pair of explosion at a bulk fuel storage facility in Waynesville, NC, killed six people, and also fatally injured Fire Chief Lawrence Kerley. Below are a pair of …
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This is an expanded version of a blog archives posting (PDF) from September 4, 2012. The history of the Raleigh Fire Department includes instances of members who were permanently disabled as a result of injuries on duty. Here’s one of those stories. RFD yearbook portrait, 1984 On February 18, 1958, Raleigh firefighter Claude W. Johnson …
This is an updated blog version of a Facebook posting from 2009. What’s the historical perspective of civilian fatalities in fire apparatus accidents across our state? Here’s that secret history. Contents 2023 – Charlotte 2019 – Kannapolis 2011 – Kernersville 2005 – Statesville 1997 – Charlotte 1985 – Greensboro 1982 – Charlotte 1980 – Steele …
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This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from December 21, 2019. Top photos from Durham Herald Company Newspaper Photograph Collection, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Bottom photos by Lee Wilson. First County Pumper – 1948 Mack Durham’s first “county fire truck” was delivered …