New Trailer for USAR 3

Posted by on

North Carolina Task Force 8 has received a new trailer for USAR 3. It’s their first first curtain-side trailer, which will allow access from both sides as well as the back. It’ll replace a box trailer that transports their Base of Operation (BoO) portable shelter system, which includes tents, showers, cots, generators and HVAC systems, etc. And it’ll be further modified with a rear attachment to carry their Moffett forklift.

Why the new trailer and new style of trailer? Two reasons. First, they’ll increase their storage space by about a third, because side-loading allows for more efficient placement of stored equipment. Second, stuff stored in the back will no longer block access to stuff stored in the front. Side-access allows selective retrieval of equipment.

Also, note that their name and logo has changed. The state teams are slowly rolling out a rebranding that subtracts the word “urban”. Though they are training as and defined by FEMA as USAR teams, their response areas (and response capabilities) cover urban, suburban, and rural areas.

Facebook Comments

Renovations to Station 11 – December Update – Moving Day

Posted by on

This is an ongoing blog posting about the renovation of Fire Station 11. 

See Legeros updates below. See also ongoing Legeros photos. And here’s the official project site from the city.

Contents

  • 12/17/19 – Moving Day
  • 11/24/19 – Nearly Finished
  • 9/27/19 – Doors Have Been Added
  • 6/25/19 – Interior Work Has Started
  • 5/29/19 – New Bays Nearly Complete
  • 3/23/19 – Construction Has Started
  • 12/7/18 – Rendering Added
  • 12/6/18 – Companies Moved
  • 10/12/18 – Site Plans, Floor Plans

December 17, 2019
Crews completed two days of moving today into their new old home. Station 11 was reactivated early this afternoon, with Engine 11 and Ladder 2 relocating from their temporary quarters at Station 7 and Station 15, respectively. Here are a some pictures:

November 24, 2019
Nearly finished. And a good-looking plaque seen through the windows…

September 27, 2019
Doors have been added! 

Continue reading ‘Renovations to Station 11 – December Update – Moving Day’ »

Facebook Comments

Vintage Air Ambulance Advertisement, 1947

Posted by on

Found for sale on eBay. Advertisement for “America’s first air ambulance service” in Durham, from 1947.

Was this the same service that operated the air ambulance that crashed near Oxford two years later? To be determined. See that posting.

Facebook Comments

Air Ambulance Crash in Oxford, 1949

Posted by on

This is a blog version of a pair of earlier Facebook postings on Legeros Fire Line.

Here’s a photo and a news clipping about an early air ambulance crash in our area. Converted Cessna five-seat plane crashed near Oxford on August 25, 1949. Three aboard, the pilot and two nurses. Two died at the scene and the third, one of the nurses, died at the hospital. The plane was returning from New York to Durham, after transporting a patient, and attempting an emergency landing at “Brent Meadows farm.” The plane crashed into a cornfield after striking a tree. It was operated by Piedmont Aviation Inc.

Was this the same Durham-based air ambulance service seen in this vintage Esso advertisement from 1947? To be determined. See earlier posting.

See also Mike’s master Google map of Raleigh-Durham area plane crashes.

Phone photo of film negative by Charles Cooper, P0105/1-01-13-141 in the Durham Herald Co. Newspaper Photograph Collection #P0105, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Statesville Daily Record, Friday, August 26, 1949.

Facebook Comments

Durham Rescue Trucks in 1974

Posted by on

For your Friday enjoyment, here’s a vintage picture of Durham’s early rescue trucks. Left is the city-county rescue squad’s second truck, a late 1960s GMC van procured after the original late 1950s Civil Defense rescue truck was wrecked in November 1966.

Right is the squad’s third and newly repaired rescue truck, with a new Ford cab and chassis and remounted Murphy body. The prior unit, delivered new in 1973 with a one-ton Chevy chassis, was wrecked in July 1974.

Read more Durham rescue history at legeros.com/history/stories/durham-rescue. See also closer views at facebook.com/LegerosFire/posts/3161885430506330

Durham Sun photo, P0105_1_03_36_189 in the Durham Herald Company Newspaper Photograph Collection #P0105, North Carolina Collection Photographic Archives, The Wilson Library, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Facebook Comments

After the Attack on Pearl Harbor

Posted by on

On December 10, 1941, three days after the attack on Pearl Harbor, a meeting was held at the State Capitol in Raleigh with 170 fire chiefs from around North Carolina. State Fire Marshal Sherwood Brockwell (pictured center) provided instruction on wartime fire protection. He had just graduated from a school conducted by the United States Army at Edgewood Arsenal.

Civilian Defense

The Governor the day before had issued bulletin to the mayors of cities with over 5,000 people, describing how to organize Civilian Protection Committees. Numerous initiatives were started, ranging from blackout drills to the training of volunteer auxiliary firemen. The latter began serving and augmenting the fire departments in such cities and towns as Asheville, High Point, Kinston, Raleigh, and Tarboro.

In Raleigh in July 1942, certificates of training and arm bands were presented to 154 auxiliary firemen in a graduation ceremony at Hugh Morson High School. They were trained in wartime firefighting and rescue techniques, and participated in exercises including city-wide blackout drills from 1942 to 1944. The auxiliary firemen also assisted in actual emergencies.

Wartime Impacts

Other wartime impacts included the loss of personnel due to firefighters enlisting or being drafted into the armed forces, or leaving for war-industry jobs, and which often offered higher pay. There were also restrictions that affected infrastructure, with departments unable to obtain new apparatus or build new stations.

In Raleigh, the city needed an additional pumper for a new engine company in 1943. The solution? They purchased a 1919 American LaFrance “triple combination” from the town of Farmville. Similar restrictions on building materials delayed the building of a new Raleigh Station 1 for over a decade.

Photo credit: News & Observer. Pictured far left is Lt. Kenlon H. Brockwell, son of Sherwood and Post Fire Marshal at Fort Bragg. Right is Captain J. M. Munday, Drill Master of the Charlotte Fire Department.

About The Photo

From the December 11, 1941, issue of the New & Observer:

“Brockwell demonstrated the content of an incendiary bomb and explained the equipment needed and the procedure for extinguishing it. From a chart, he explained the appearance and effect of armor piercing, demolition, fragmentation, aerial mine, light and scatter aerial bombs. [He] also explained the action of white phosphorous and thermite, the formerly highly adaptable to sabotage, and offered ways of counteracting their flames.” He explained thermite is used against oil deposits, and urged special precautions in such places as Wilmington.

More Information

Read the Handbook for Auxiliary Firemen at legeros.com/history/library/civil-defense.

See these related blog postings:

See also Names of Raleigh Auxiliary Firemen, 1944 (PDF)

Facebook Comments

Meet Raleigh’s Newest Firefighters – Recruit Graduation, December 5

Posted by on

On Thursday night, December 5, 2019, nineteen new firefighters will join the ranks of the Raleigh Fire Department. Recruit Academy 44 will graduate in a ceremony at 7:00 p.m. at the Raleigh Convention Center, in Exhibit Hall C.

The new firefighters have completed a 32-week fire academy that included over 1000 hours of classroom, practical, and physical fitness training. Each has been certified by the State of North Carolina as a Firefighter Level II, Emergency Medical Technician, and Hazardous Materials Responder I. Most of their instruction was conducted at the Keeter Training Center in downtown Raleigh.


Mike Legeros photo

Names and Faces

Back row, left to right:

  • DeSilver J. Nickerson – Apex
  • Ryan D. McLaurin – Fayetteville
  • William D. Catlett – Raleigh
  • Cullen V. Brown – Selma
  • Devin C. Woodall – Raleigh
  • Samuel B. Bailey – Clayton
  • Austin D. Wilder – Raleigh

Middle row, left to right:

  • Benjamin J. Cross – Olympia, WA
  • Janet L. Miguel – Hillsborough
  • Hunter S. Toms – Raleigh
  • Darryl W. Johnson – Angier
  • Jermey R. Lee – Richmond
  • Joseph A. Hunter – Raleigh

Front row, left to right:

  • Cole T. Stricker – Clayton
  • London S. Spain – Boston, MA
  • Michael H. Bennett – Princeton
  • Salim Bounemia – Chicago, IL
  • Timothy A. Bolos – Denver, CO
  • Dakota M. Rager – Cary

Family Connections

  • Johnson – Son of [Division] Chief Rob Johnson (ret.)
  • Stricker – Son of Lt. Mike Stricker
  • Toms – Son of Division Chief Ian Toms
  • Woodall – Son of Asst. Chief L. Bryant Woodall (ret.)

Raleigh Fire Department Explorer Post

  • Toms – Former member

Other Fire Department Connections

  • Bennett – Princeton FD
  • Brown – Antioch FD
  • McLaurin – Swift Creek FD
  • Miguel – New Hope FD (Orange County)
  • Spain – Sherborn (MA) FD

Historical Perspective

See all academy class photos, from 1978 to present.

Facebook Comments

History of Durham Fire Chiefs

Posted by on

Storing here, for future reference needs.

Volunteer Fire Department

  • R. D. Blacknall, 1882 to 1886
  • TBD, as records from 1887 to 1888 were destroyed.
    But some known things include Howard E. Heartt was Fire Chief in September 1888, source NCSFA organizational meeting proceedings. 
  • Howard E. Heartt, May 21, 1889 to Jan 6, 1891
  • Albert Kramer, Jan 1891 to Sep 1, 1891
  • M. E. McCown, Sep 1891 to Jan. 5, 1892
  • W. C. Brandsher, Feb. 2, 1892 to May 2, 1899
  • Howard E. Heartt, May 1899 to Dec 1899
  • J. Frank Maddry, Jan 1, 1900 to May 7, 1903
  • W. H. Llewellyn, May 8, 1903 to May 4, 1905
  • J. Frank Maddry, May 1905 to Feb 15, 1909

Career Fire Department

  • D.C. Christian, 1909 to 1921
  • Frank W. Bennett, 1921 to 1946
    Died in the line of duty on November 26, 1946. Read blog post. 
  • Cosmo Cox, 1946 to 1972
  • Joe Letzing, 1972 to 1983
  • Nathaniel Thompson, 1985 to 1997
  • Otis Cooper, 1998 to 2005
  • Bruce Pagan, 2005 to 2012
  • Daniel Curia, 2012 to 2018
  • Bobby Zoldos, 2018 to present
Facebook Comments

When They Closed Station 3 in 1917

Posted by on

Found a piece of hidden history this week, about the original Station 3 at 135 East Hargett Street. That was the old Victor Company quarters, erected in 1898 for the all-black volunteer fire company. After the career department was activated in December 1912, the volunteer companies were disbanded. The old station reopened in February 1913, with a hose-drawn hose company, and was motorized the following year.

But get this, Station 3 was closed just a couple years later. Reported the News & Observer on November 11, 1917, the engine house had been “discontinued” and “Company No. 3” moved to the Morgan Street station. That was Headquarters, and Hose Company 3 joined Hose Company 1 and the Aerial Ladder Truck Company. This left just two stations, on West Morgan Street (Station 1) and South Salisbury Street (Station 2).

Why the closure? The city would be saving $500 a year, while maintaining three “truck companies” (motor hose companies) in the fire district, as required by the fire insurance underwriters. And response times would improve, as Hose 3 no longer needed to cross “main streets in the center of the business district.”

To accommodate the relocated fire company, the story reported at Station 1 was being “repaired and enlarged.” And that the “large sleeping hall is being cut up into rooms, each to be used by two firemen.” The change would also give the crews “more privacy in their sleeping quarters.” The run cards were also changed. Only two hose companies would be dispatched on all alarms, Hose 1 and Hose 3 north of Hillsboro Street and New Bern Avenue, and Hose 1 and Hose 2 to the southern and eastern areas of the city.

Added the news story, the old Victor Company firehouse would be sold.

Two Years Later – Planning For New Station 3

On June 12, 1919, the News & Observer reported that yesterday the city sold the old Victor Company firehouse for $7,500. And it would “immediately erect” a new station on East Martin Street, near Swain street.

Continue reading ‘When They Closed Station 3 in 1917’ »

Facebook Comments