Waynesville Fire Chief Lawrence Kerley Killed in Explosion – July 14, 1942

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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 images from the Waynesville Mountaineer on July 16. Read that digital issue. 

Some time around 3:00 a.m. an employee at the Standard Oil Company “bulk plant” on Water street discovered gasoline leaking from one of three horizontal storage tanks. He called the Fire Chief, who responded in a town car.

Chief Kerley was apparently near the plant office when fumes from the leak ignited, at 3:20 a.m., and caused the tank to exploded. The chief ran about 400 yards to a nearby home, his clothing in flames. The resident at the house rushed him to Haywood County Hospital. (He would die from his injuries a month later.)

The storage tank, with one end sheared off and landing 50 feet away, was thrown against a parked gasoline tanker truck, and then landed 250 feet away, on the other side of the highway, and over a row of rail cars and their tracks. (While knocking over one of said coal cars.)

The blast also set aflame the nearby residence of the Caldwell family, where the wife and two children were reportedly killed instantly. The husband escaped his burning house and was found 100 yards away by a policeman. The husband died at the hospital at 7:30 a.m. that morning.

Also critically injured was the oil company employee, who died the following day, and a truck driver, who died four days later. Continue reading ‘Waynesville Fire Chief Lawrence Kerley Killed in Explosion – July 14, 1942’ »

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Raleigh Firefighter Loses Leg, 1958

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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 broke his leg on duty. As that day’s Raleigh Times article reported, he fell on ice at the scene of a house fire at 407 Polk Street. Fire Chief Jack Keeter said “he jumped a fence and fell on the ice.” He added that Johnson “was in satisfactory condition, but would be in the hospital for some time.” Johnson was admitted to Rex Hospital, records a notation in a Raleigh Fire Department Local 548 Ladies Auxiliary scrapbook.

Five fire companies responded to the 6:45 a.m. blaze, which was reported by fire department switchboard operator Roy High, while he was returning home from night shift at Station 1. The upstairs ten-room frame house was severely damaged, reported the next day’s News & Observer. No residents were injured, “although it forced occupants into the street in night clothes.” 

Added the paper, “neighbors joined the family in carrying the furniture to safety. Mrs. Throne said she was getting her 11 year-old daughter off to school, when she saw smoke and noticed a trace of fire around the fire place in the living room. The flame moved from the basement along the chimney to the second story. Firemen were forced to fight the fire from the attic entrance.”

The News & Observer on March 24, 1958, reported that doctors had amputated the left leg of the 31-year-old fireman. (His correct age was 34 years old.) The date of his injury was reported as March 1, which may be the date of the amputation. He lost about four inches of his leg below the knee. Surgery was required as blood had stopped circulating to the injured limb. Officials spoke to reports about Johnson on Friday, March 21, 1958.

Johnson had been a member of the department for three years, the article reported, and was a Rolesville native.[1] Officials were quoted as saying he’d be transferred to the fire department’s switchboard.[2]

Johnson retired on March 30, 1976. That’s four years after the Raleigh and Wake County Emergency Communications Center assumed call-taking and dispatching duties.[3] 

Johnson died on July 27, 1991, at the age of 67. Cause of death was pneumonia, follow the onset of “parkinsonian” three years earlier. He and his surviving wife Annie Driver Johnson lived in Raleigh. He was buried at Watkins Chapel Baptist Church Cemetery in Middlesex, NC

[1]Claude Johnson joined the department in September 16, 1956.  

[2]Driver Vernon J. Smith also lost his leg, in an apparatus accident on November 14, 1952. He worked in light-duty roles as his health permitted, including as dispatcher. He died of his injuries on March 10, 1956.

[3]Roy High, mention in the first paragraph, was a former firefighter. He was also seriously injured in an apparatus accident, when the “squad truck” and a Greyhound bus collided on September 11, 1947. High and Firefighter H. S. Stephenson were both thrown from the vehicle, and sustained injuries. As the story goes, High never returned to line duty, and remained a dispatcher the rest of his career.

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Two Alarms on Prince George Lane

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See photos by Mike Legeros | Listen to radio traffic

Two alarms (with a third for mayday, then cancelled) were struck in Raleigh on Sunday morning, February 5, 2023. Was the fourth working fire in eight hours. Dispatched 6:12 a.m. for Old Lead Mine Road and Mere Oak Drive. Reported house fire, plus report of people trapped on second floor.

Engine 4 arrived in the area and found heavy smoke. They located the fire building, a two-story, wood-frame apartment building addressed 9401 Prince George Lane. With 10,440 square-feet. Heavy fire found in right rear (A/D) corner on second floor, extending to roof. Also found fire in the rear (C) of the structure.

There were occupants on a balcony/at windows that needed rescue. Plus others inside on second floor. Ground ladders thrown to begin rescue of occupants. Four rescued from both outside and inside, plus additional residents evacuated.

Second alarm requested within five minutes of first unit arrival. Additional EMS alarm(s) also requested.


Mike Legeros photos

Interior attack. Ladder 4 later deployed, along with deck gun from Engine 16 and exterior stream(s), as fire conditions worsened on the right side of the structure (A/B) (Ladder 4) and also vented from attic space (C) (Engine 16). Extensive EMS response, with ambulances staged on Old Lead Mine Road.

Continue reading ‘Two Alarms on Prince George Lane’ »

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Two Alarms on Walden Pond Drive

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See photos by Mike Legeros | Listen to radio traffic

Mike Legeros photos

Two alarms were struck overnight in north Raleigh on Walden Pond Drive. It was the third of four working fires in the city in eight hours, between Saturday night, February 4, and Sunday morning, February 5, and the first of two extra-alarm fires during the same period. 

Dispatched 11:51 p.m. for 4707 Walden Pond Road. Two-story townhouse building with 7,914 [?] square-feet. Built 1973.

Engine 19 first arriving with heavy fire in front/left (A/B) corner of the building, on the first floor and extending into second floor and attic space. Interior attack, with second alarm requested with minutes and crews soon withdrawn for aerial operations and exterior streams. Ladder 15 deployed and flowed. Ladder 4 also raised but didn’t flow. 

Run card included:

Fire

  • E4, Sq7, E11, E15, E17, E19, E21, E22, E28
  • L1, L4, L15, L22
  • R16
  • B1, B2, B5 (command)
  • SO14
  • DC1, INV1, A10

Continue reading ‘Two Alarms on Walden Pond Drive’ »

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Apparatus Accidents with Civilian Fatalities

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This is an updated blog version of a Facebook posting from 2009.

Research notes on civilian fatalities in fire apparatus accidents in North Carolina.   

Contents

  • 2023 – Charlotte
  • 2019 – Kannapolis
  • 2011 – Kernersville
  • 2005 – Statesville
  • 1997 – Charlotte
  • 1985 – Greensboro
  • 1982 – Charlotte
  • 1980 – Steele Creek (Mecklenburg)
  • 1975 – Durham
  • 1966 – Wilmington
  • 1963 – Lenoir
  • 1957 – Durham
  • 1953 – Goldsboro
  • 1933 – New Bern
  • 1929 – Raleigh
  • 1926 – Charlotte
  • 1923 – Raleigh

Incidents

2023, Jan 30 – Charlotte
Ladder 24 collided with a motorcycle at the intersection of Pineville-Matthews Road and McMahon Drive, while the unit was responding to a medical call. It had been dispatched at 5:36 p.m. to the 7700 block of Little Avenue. At around 5:40 p.m., the ladder truck was travelling through the intersection when it collided with the motorcycle. The crew of the ladder truck immediately began treating the motorcycle, who later died of his injuries. Source: Spectrum News.


Charlotte – January 30, 2023 – WCCB-TV photo

2019, Mar 19 – Kannapolis
Engine 31 collided with an automobile on Centergrove Road. The car crossed the center line and struck the apparatus head on. The lone occupant of the car, age 29, died at the hospital. The four firefighters suffered minor injuries and were also transported. Speed was not a factor, but the driver was apparently either reaching for something in the back of the car or suffering from a medical event. The driver was not wearing a seat belt. Source: [goes here]


Kannapolis – March 19, 2019 – Kannapolis Fire Department photo

Continue reading ‘Apparatus Accidents with Civilian Fatalities’ »

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Photographing Fire Apparatus – FireNews Feature From 2008

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In 2008, fire buff and photographer Jeff Harkey posted a series of articles about fire apparatus photography on his site FireNews.net. The articles included contributions from photographers Lee Wilson and Mike Legeros. The site and the articles have been preserved by the Internet Archive. Here’s a compilation of the articles in PDF format, created in January 2023.

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Understanding Alarm Levels in Wake County

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Presenting an explanation of fire and EMS alarm levels in Raleigh and Wake County. Compiled over the last couple weeks, for the benefit of local fire buff and scanner listeners. 

  • Raleigh Fire
  • Cary/Apex/Morrisville (CAM) Fire
  • Wake County Fire (General)
  • Wake County EMS
  • RDU Alert Levels

Read document (PDF).

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New Zebulon Fire Station

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The town of Zebulon is planning a replacement fire station. The first community meeting was held this week, to share information and receive feedback. There’s also a web page with information including a preliminary site plan, shown below.

Some details. The designer is ADW Architects. The location is beside the town hall. Wake County EMS will be co-located at the facility. The 24,000 square-foot building will include five drive-through bays. Next step is another community meeting in February, to incorporate feedback and share more views of the building design.

The project has been in development since 2018, when a fire station location study was completed and recommended a single headquarters fire station near US 64 and NC 96. 

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Wake County Fire Department Updates – January 2023

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Here’s a new “armchair update” on what’s news and new at the various fire departments around Wake County. Thanks to the various fire chiefs that shared their information. 

Apex

  • New Station 6 nearing completion, 1206 Wimberly Road. Expected to open in late March or early April. See drawings in this blog post. 
  • New E-One Typhoon pumper on order, for the station. Expected around June, delayed due to build delays.
  • Academy 3 graduates April 21, with 12 firefighters to help staff the new station and new Engine 6.
  • Second battalion and three battalion chiefs will be added, when Station 6 opens.
  • New Spartan Gladiator/Smeal aerial platform also on order, 2000/400/100-foot.
  • Preparing to spec new replacement engine for next budget year.
  • Currently advertising for third assistant chief, new position. Assistant Chief of Professional Standards and Accreditation.

Cary

  • Four Pierce Enforcer pumpers on order, 1500/500.
  • Station 4 renovation plans are nearing completion and will be bid soon. The project will completely remodel the 1988 facility at 1401 Old Apex Road. Everything will be new within the existing footprint, plus some modifications to interior walls. Plus a 1,500 square-foot addition, for a fitness room. The station will be closed during the project and crews moved to a modular unit.

Durham Highway Continue reading ‘Wake County Fire Department Updates – January 2023’ »

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Two Alarms on Logger Court

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See more photos by Mike Legeros.

Two alarms were struck on Friday night, January 21, 2023, at 1100 Logger Court in north Raleigh. Two-story, garden-style, office condo building with 3,600 square-feet, if calculating correctly. Built 1981, say tax records.

Dispatched 10:02 p.m. as a multiple residential structure fire at the intersection of Falls of Neuse Road and Carlos Drive. Engine 15 first-arriving with fire showing through the roof of what initially appeared to be a residential structure. Engine 19 with supply line from hydrant at Falls of Neuse and Logger Court.

Interior attack, with two lines taken into the second-floor of a rear unit. One of the lines started leaking, due to fire damage, and that crew was backed out to the breezeway. Subsequent partial collapse of the roof, over the fire unit. Also at least one exterior line deployed, to protect exposures. 

Ladder 15 positioned and raised in the front of building, but used just for lighting. Ladder 4 deployed in the back of building, in a parking lot from Ridgefield Drive, and flowed water. Supplied by Engine 4, from a hydrant at Ridgefield and Spring Forest Road [?].

Medical monitoring and rehab by Wake County EMS, in the parking lot on the northeast side of the structure. Decon of firefighter PPE at Engine 15. 

Special call for additional two engines. Upgraded by command to full second-alarm assignment, which added three more engines and two ladders. 

Controlled 10:43 p.m. Extended overhaul, extinguishing hot spots. First pic about eight minutes into incident. 

Run card included:

First alarm:
E15, L15, E4, L4, B5, E19, E9, R16, B1, SO14
EMS11

Working fire:
DC1, Air28, INV1
D3, EMS12, T1

Added:
EMS72
E11, E22

Second alarm:
L22, E18, E27, E17, L6

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