During their first three months of 1956, the Knightdale Volunteer Fire Department responded over 100 fire calls. They were in their third year of operation. The calls are listed below, transcribed from the original log book.
03/11/56 – Two farm storage barns
03/14/56 – Car burning in yard
03/15/56 – Seven-room dwelling (out on arrival)
03/19/56 – Mutual aid with Wake Forest, structure fire, Scandia Village, Highway 1 six miles north of Raleigh, provided water supply from pond
03/23/56 – Mattress fire in farm dwelling
03/30/56 – Tobacco barn
05/30/56 – Woods fire (used “back pumps”)
06/11/56 – Mutual aid to Millbrook, false alarm
06/22/56 – Tenant house
06/26/56 – Tenant house
08/10/56 – Tobacco barn
08/19/56 – Tobacco barn
08/19/56 – Tobacco barn
08/27/56 – Frying pan and grease on fire
08/28/56 – Tobacco barn
08/31/56 – Allen’s Store, general store building, started by electrical fuse box (half-hour on scene)
09/04/56 – Tobacco barn and shelter
09/05/56 – Tobacco barn (four miles NW of town)
09/08/56 – Tobacco barn (Wilder’s Grove)
09/10/56 – Tobacco barn (Wilder’s Grove)
09/11/56 – Tobacco barn (Poole Road)
09/16/56 – Woods fire
09/27/56 – Dwelling house (seven miles S of town, started by electric motor)
11/25/56 – Tenant house (seven miles S of town)
11/27/56 – Car fire
11/27/56 – Woods fire
12/03/56 – Grass fire near houses
01/24/57 – Grass fire near house
04/29/57 – Electric hot water heater (out on arrival)
05/09/57 – Woods fire
05/24/57 – Structure fire, saw mill (“out of control and almost to destroy sawmill”, 400 gallons of water on GMC used, and about half of the 1,200 gallons on the International)
07/14/57 – Tobacco barn (six miles W of town at Lee’s Store[?], fire resulted from explosion of “oil covers”, flames coming out of roof on arrival, 500 sticks [??] of tobacco lost)
07/14/57 – Wheat field
07/21/57 – Tobacco barn (Auburn Road)
07/??/57 – Tobacco barn (Poole Road)
08/??/57 – Tobacco barn (six miles NW of town by Allen’s Store)
08/??/57 – Tobacco barn (seven miles NW of town)
09/11/57 – Tobacco barn (seven miles SW of town)
10/21/57 – Tobacco barn (six miles NE of town)
10/26/57 – Tenant house
11/16/57 – House fire in Raleigh (Rose Lane) (extinguished before arrival)
11/23/57 – Truck load of cotton (Louisburg Road)
12/07/57 – Tobacco sticks at farm
12/16/57 – Tenant house (Shotwell)
12/23/57 – Farm barn
01/05/58 – Farm barn
01/21/58 – Dwelling house (seven miles S of town, Clayton Road)
02/14/58 – Dwelling
02/17/58 – Dwelling (chimney)
02/20/58 – Grass fire
02/20/58 – Barbecue stand (Strickland’s Barbecue, out on arrival)
02/26/58 – Dwelling house (reported as cotton gin on fire, KVFD couldn’t locate same. Later learned that operator had misunderstood caller. Was across field from cotton gin. Floor furnace had exploded and was burning under house)
03/08/58 – Trash fire (New Hope Road)
04/17/58 – Stove in house
07/25/58 – Tobacco barn (Clayton Road)
07/26/58 – Tobacco barn (Faison Road)
07/28/58 – Tobacco barn (Faison Road, same as two days earlier, out on arrival)
08/02/58 – Tobacco barn
08/02/58 – Tobacco barn (same location, rekindle)
08/15/58 – Tenant house
08/16/58 – Tobacco barn
08/18/58 – Tobacco barn
08/24/58 – Tobacco barn
09/20/58 – Tenant house, two-room (alarm received from Raleigh by “radio-siren”)
09/24/58 – Pack [?] barn
10/31/58 – Grass fire near house
11/16/58 – Tenant house (eight miles NE of town)
12/12/58 – Frame dwelling (eight miles SW on Poole Road)
12/30/30 – Frame dwelling (nine miles SW on Poole Road)
01/04/59 – Frame dwelling (burned)
01/04/59 – Frame dwelling (burned)
01/05/59 – Frame dwelling (saved)
01/21/59 – Frame dwelling (saved)
01/21/59 – Shavings pile (Pair Lumber Company in high wind)
01/22/59 – Garage (Knightdale Repair Service)
01/25/59 – Grass fire
01/26/59 – Grass fire
01/27/59 – Tenant house
01/29/59 – Dwelling
02/15/59 – Tenant house
02/17/59 – Woods fire
02/21/59 – Grass fire in field
02/23/59 – Car fire
03/08/59 – Structure fire, Massey’s Grocery, two-story, brick
03/12/59 – Brush fire
03/23/59 – Tobacco “strip house”
06/01/59 – Frame dwelling (near town limits, with two trucks from New Hope as mutual aid)
06/10/59 – Frame dwelling
06/12/59 – Stove or store (but with two hours recorded of service time, probably “store”)
06/15/59 – Combine + wheat field
06/23/59 – Tenant dwelling (near Broadwell’s Store)
07/30/59 – Tar bucket (Morganton Roofing Company)
08/06/59 – Tobacco barn
08/06/59 – Tobacco barn
08/07/59 – Tobacco barn (burned again on 11/04/59)
08/15/59 – Frame dwelling
10/02/59 – Frame dwelling
10/05/59 – Garbage can
[ missing one or more entries, photocopier operator error ]
10/29/59 – Tobacco “strip room”
11/20/59 – Frame dwelling
12/03/59 – Brush fire
12/11/59 – Dwelling