For your weekend reading, let’s tool over to the Triad, for an early history of the Greensboro-High Point airport fire department. And an early history of Guilford County Fire Services, which provided the “crash crew” staffing starting in 1966. The story starts in 1962, with the deadly crash of a military transport and the resulting criticism …
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One of the earliest “suburban” fire departments in North Carolina was Bessemer VFD in Greensboro. We’ve blogged about them before, but let’s take a deeper dive. They were organized in 1942, upon the completion of a sanitary district, which added water lines and fire hydrants. By all accounts, they were not equipped for fighting fires …
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Let’s look at some law enforcement special units. Greensboro Police Department and their bomb squad trucks, past ‘n’ present. Reader/contributor David Raynor shares the vintage pictures. Top picture at the city garage in 1987, with containment equipment mounted on an ex-military 6×6. Bottom picture at the training center in 1991, with containment equipment mounted on …
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Found on eBay, vintage image of Greensboro’s lighting unit, which appeared in a 1954 ad for Onan. Notes the accompanying ad copy, “built to the specifications of the [department], this power unit incorporates many new ideas. Both sides of the truc, for instance, hold identical equipment. Located in the many steel compartments are four 500-watt …
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On March 29, 2024, Lexington Fire Department Captain Ronnie B. Metcalf, 54, died after being injured during an interior fire attack at a house fire on March 26. What’s the historical perspective of other firefighters in North Carolina, who were killed during or from injuries sustained during interior operations? That list includes the following: Theodore …
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Research notes on fatal ambulance accidents in North Carolina. Most involve collisions with other vehicles. Sources include newspapers.com, Digital North Carolina Newspapers, the Fayetteville Observer archives via News Bank, and numerous Google searches. See source documents in this Google Drive. 2020 to 2024 February 13, 2024 – Cumberland County Cape Fear Valley Medical Center ambulance …
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Note: See also these two active Facebook threads: Legeros Fire Line and SPAAMFAA (private group) Watauga Democrat, May 28, 1959. In May 1959, the fire equipment and fire apparatus collection of Vincent K. O’Meara of Hialeah, FL, was moved to the Tweetsie Railroad attraction in Blowing Rock, NC. The collection had previously been displayed at …
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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 content first appeared in a Facebook posting on December 13, 2019. Durham Herald Company Newspaper Photograph Collection, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Here’s a bit of hidden history of the Durham Fire Department. Below is a photo the Bull City’s first black firefighters. They …
Let’s start a list of Oren apparatus that served in North Carolina. Pictured rigs marked with (*): *Burlington – 1940 Diamond T/Oren – #RW&E-1363 – Legeros photo *Cape Fear Rural (Lee) – 1953 Ford/Oren – Engine 51 – Lee Wilson photo *Charlotte – 1953 Ford Big Job/Oren, 500/1000 – Engine 10 at Morris Field, high-pressure unit …