Raleigh Rescue Boats, Past and Present

With the remnants of Hurricane Ian reaching Raleigh today, here’s a look at the city’s water rescue vehicles, past and present. Left to right, top to bottom: 1953 wooden rescue boats, originally operated by the Raleigh Emergency Rescue Squad at Station 1. And they’ve survived to this date, presently in storage. Lee Wilson photo, from …

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Raleigh Rescue Squad Member Drowns, 1959

This is a blog version of a Facebook posting from February 2021. On Thursday, April 23, 1959, Raleigh Emergency Rescue Squad volunteer member and Wake County Sheriff’s Deputy Robert L. Battle, 45, drowned in the Cape Fear River in Chatham County. He was serving as a squad member and assisting with a search for a …

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Greensboro Rescue History

Introduction This page presents research notes on the history of rescue squad vehicles in Greensboro and notably as operated by the Greensboro Life Saving squad and the Greensboro Fire Department and originally compiled in 2022.  Ambulance and EMS agency history is presently not included. May expand at a later and add.  Summary  1944 – GFD …

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Deadliest Light Plane Crashes

Searches were suspended on Wednesday for the light plane with eight souls aboard that crashed off the coast of Carteret County, NC, on Sunday. The remains of all eight occupants had been located, along the plane’s fuselage. The expansive search started Sunday afternoon, after ATC at MCAS Cherry Point saw the craft disappear from radar. …

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Raleigh Rescue Early History

Notes on the early history of the Raleigh Emergency Rescue Squad. This is a placeholder posting which will be updated and expanded over time. Related: How Often Did Raleigh Rescue Transport Patients? See expanded version of this history and other information at https://legeros.com/ralwake/raleigh/history/rescue 1947 – First proposal for a Raleigh rescue squad.   1952 [?] – …

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Umstead Park Plane Crash, October 2019 – Incident Notes

On October 20, 2019, starting at 7:25 p.m., fire and EMS units were dispatched to a reported plane crash at Umstead State Park, which borders Raleigh-Durham International Airport. The dispatched address was the intersection of Ebenezer Church Road and Graylyn Drive. The airport control tower reported loss of radar contact with a light plane, later …

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Apex Adds Second Ladder, Staffed Rescue

News from Apex. They’ve added a second, fully-staffed ladder company, effective April 6. On that date, Ladder 34 (at Station 4) and Ladder 35 (at Station 5) were both in service. This followed the graduation of a recruit academy, which added sixteen firefighters to the full-time ranks. The backstory on the second ladder company is …

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When Iron Lungs Were Added

Long before COVID crashed out shores, our fire departments and rescue squads assisted with another national health crisis. During the polio outbreaks of the 1940s and 1950s, they added iron lungs to their emergency equipment. Here’s the Durham Fire Department receiving one, as photographed by Charles Cooper for the Durham Morning Herald and/or Sun on …

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Trench Rescue at Brier Creek – January 15, 2020

These notes were originally posted on Facebook, after a trench rescue incident on Wednesday, January 15, 2020. See more photos from Mike Legeros in this SmugMug album.    Incident Dispatched 11:03 a.m. Gas station construction site at 4209 Corners Parkway, near intersection of Glenwood Avenue and TW Alexander Drive. Below grade earth collapse trapping four …

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Audio Recording from Commuter Plane Crash Response in Morrisville, 1994

Here’s a surprise historical find, newly discovered audio recording of the 911 call, the dispatch, and the first 13 minutes of radio traffic, of fire units responding to the commuter plane crash in Morrisville on December 13, 1994. Listen to the recording at www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwV4H5GVK_Y. It was contributed by David Ferrell, a Morrisville Fire Captain and …

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