Wake Forest Engine Returns Home

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Antique acquisition alert! 

The Wake Forest Fire Department has re-acquired their old 1947 Chevrolet 6000/Southern pumper[1].  It was delivered in 1948, and replaced a 1934 Chevrolet pumper, which was given to the town’s second fire department, Wake Forest Fire Department #2.

They were an all-black department, that operated separately from WFFD. And were one of the few all-black fire departments in our state, in modern times.[2] 

See pics of this truck, plus a couple historical images, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/legeros/albums/72157709108683743

Moved in 1953

In 1953, the town received another Chevrolet pumper with front-mounted pump, that one a 1951 model year and built by American, according to Legeros.[3]

Upon the 1953 delivery of the 1951 pumper, the 1947 pumper was moved to Wake Forest Fire Department #2. And their 1934 pumper was sold to the town of Sanford, and eventually ended up in a small town near Spartanburg, SC. 

And was still in service in South Carolina of February 1972, records Legeros at https://legeros.com/ralwake/wake/history/wake-forest.shtml. 

Photo courtesy Wake Forest Birthplace Society

Then What Happened?

How long did Wake Forest Fire Department#2 operate their 1947 pumper? Good question! Based on these later photos, WFFD #2 also operated the 1951 Chevy pumper, which also had a front-mounted pump.

The picture on the right is dated January 1977. By that time, the Wake Forest Fire Department had upgraded their pumpers a couple times. Most likely, the 1951 Chevy pumper was transferred to WFFD #2. Did they keep the 1947 Chevy pumper on the roster? Good question.

Wake Weekly photographs

The department disbanded in 1982, with its few remaining members merging with WFFD. The 1947 Chevy pumper eventually ended in the hands of a private owner, in Broadway, NC. It returned home this month.

Recall that Wake Forest Fire Department recently acquired another earlier engine, the original rural fire truck. That 1942 Chevrolet with a home-built body was returned in 2016. It’s presently undergoing a restoration. See pics of that truck at https://www.flickr.com/photos/legeros/sets/72157673628037806.

About Southern

Southern Fire Apparatus was located in Roanoke, VA, and operated by fire equipment dealer Charles E. Baker, who built a number of motor apparatus in the 1930s and 1940s, notes Walter M. P. McCall in his book “Illustrated Encyclopedia of American Fire Engine Manufacturers.”

[1] Legeros previously recorded the builder as American Fire Apparatus, with a 500 GPM pump by Barton, and a 500 gallon tank. That information is incorrect. The truck has a name plate from “Southern by Chas. E. Baker – Roanoke, VA” which includes the serial number “583”. 

[2] Other all-black fire departments in modern times included Warrenton FD and Soul City FD. There were also many black fire companies back in the day, both in big cities in the 1950s and 1960s, and across the state in the early 1900s and mid- and late 1800s. Learn more on this page of Early Black Firefighter history: https://legeros.com/history/ebf 

[3] Okay, Legeros was wrong about the builder of the 1947 Chevy. Is he also wrong about the builder of the 1951 Chevy? Good question. He hasn’t dug into his source records (yet) to check. Southern Fire Apparatus, noted above, operated only through the 1940s, says Mr. McCall. And American Fire Apparatus did build a couple other trucks for departments in Wake County, including Rolesville FD and Six Forks FD. 

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New Source of Digitized Conference Proceedings

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There’s a new source of digitized proceedings of the early conferences of the North Carolina State Firemen’s Association.

The Internet Archive (archive.org) has digitized a portion of the proceedings in the North Carolina Collection at the University of North Carolina. The direct links are listed below, and each year’s proceedings is fully-searchable. There are also a range of download formats.

Completed:

Pending:

  • 1929 to 1934 – 42nd to 47th
  • 1956 and 1957 – 69th and 70th

The proceedings are available at archive.org. Search on “firemen’s convention” [with apostrophe].

Legeros has also created digital versions of the 1896 to 1903 proceedings, using a book scanning camera at Wilson Library at UNC. They’re a little rougher.

He’s combined the Internet Archive versions with his versions, and merged everything together. Those and other digital NCSFA (and NCVFA) proceedings are available at www.legeros.com/history/fa/proceedings.

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Handbook of Civilian Defense – 1942

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New addition to the Legeros history library, the Handbook of Civilian Defense – What every loyal American can do to help the United States win the war. By Lt. Robert H. Rankin, St. John’s Military Academy and published 1942.

https://legeros.com/history/library

Scanned from copy in personal collection. Wee hardcover with 95 pages. Includes such “keys to defense” as

  • Defense work for men and women
  • Defense at home
  • Air raid protection
  • Wartime first aid
  • Wartime and defense information.

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Plane Strikes Fire Truck While Taking Off – Charlotte, 1977

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Here’s an usual apparatus accident, reported by the Charlotte Observer on Saturday, April 9, 1977.

Douglas Municipal Airport on Friday night, April 8. Piece of fire apparatus with three aboard. They were returning to the station, after doing some pre-planning of a DC-10 that had made a rare landing at the airport.

The FFs radioed the tower for routine clearance to cross the runway and thought they had received an okay.

While crossing the runway the rig was struck by a Piper Seneca that was taking off. The collision ripped away “part of one landing gear.”

Pilot Russell George Ashbaugh, 28, was flying for Corporation Jet Aviaition in Atlanta, and making a “regular trip” from Charlotte to “ferry checks for Purola Courier Corp”.

He opted to return to the field for an emergency landing, when he was unable to “crank the other landing gear and nose wheel up.”

He circled the field for over an hour, to “burn off surplus fuel.” After the runway was foamed, he made a “low sweep over the field” at 10:15 p.m.

However, he couldn’t see the foam, and asked for the fire and rescue equipment to park on either side of the runway, where the foam started.

After another practice pass, he landed the plane, at about 100 mph.

He held the plane straight “until the last moment”, when it “veered to the left as it slid to the stop.” The craft was heavily damaged and had to be moved by a wrecker.

Interviewed by an FAA investigator, the pilot told him: “The truck crossed in front of me on take-off” and “I clipped the top of it.”

The apparatus, which wasn’t identified in the story, received only minor damage. No injuries to the firefighters.

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Running Across America for Firefighter Cancer

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Meet Matty Gregg, pictured below (center left) at Raleigh Fire Station 2 yesterday. He’s running across America for the Firefighter Cancer Support Network.

For seven months and nearly 4,500 miles, he’s been spreading the word about firefighter cancer and the national support group. 

The Firefighter Cancer Support Network is active in 35 states and growing. They work on a number of fronts: investing in research and development, teaching firefighters how to reduce cancer risks, and running a mentor program that pairs their own member-survivors with newly diagnosed firefighters.

Gregg, 40, is a former Senior Engineer from Apple in Cupertino, CA. He’d been planning  this run for two-years. His first mile was around the track at Apple HQ. He turned in his keys, and kept going.

He’s wanted to run cross-country since he was seven. And he’s taking a more circuitous route, than the standard San Francisco > New York path. His route has zigged and zagged, so he can experience more cities and communities along the way. 

Pictured above right is Pheobe Brimer, the latest and longest-serving of his support team. She drives the RV along their route, one of two vehicles. In a rear compartment (pictured below) are some of the 29 pairs of running shoes he’s gone through. So far.

Since you asked, he’s averaged 26 to 27 miles per day. (That’s five hours of motion, not counting a lunch break.) His max? 38 miles, somewhere in the Arizona desert. He’s also been solo for a few stretches, for a few days.

He drove two vehicles using a tow bar: leaving one at the finish, then driving back to the start, they driving from the finish back to the start, then towing the second vehicle to the next leg.

Shown is a flag of the Firefighters Cancer Support Network that’s getting signed by firefighters along the way. Here’s an action shot of Engine 2 on “A” platoon, doing their part.  

Meet Keith Kirton

Raleigh Fire Department Senior Firefighter Keith Kirton (above right) is the organization’s director in North Carolina. And a cancer survivor. He survived kidney cancer in 2014-15 and is now a mentor for those diagnosed with kidney cancer.

He became a representative with Firefighter Cancer Support Network in June 2015. They helped him and his family when he was diagnosed with cancer. 

“The risk of cancer in firefighters is 250 percent greater than people not in our line of work,” he notes.

“Researchers found that more than two-thirds of firefighters, 68 percent, develop cancer, compared to about 22 percent for the general population.”

He adds that the biggest thing that’s grabbed his attention—and everyone he’s spoken with—are the risks for male firefighters, who have 2.02 times the risk for testicular cancer, and 1.28 times the risk for prostate cancer, and that’s even higher in black male firefighters.

“You can find all the information you need on our web site,” he says. “You can also call the national office and request a class be taught at your fire or EMS department free of charge.”

Heading North

Where’s Matty headed next?

He’s going north, and will be running from Raleigh to Wake Forest to Henderson to Petersburg to Richmond.

Firefighters have a higher risk for cancer, and Matty Gregg wants the world to hear that, and support the Firefighter Cancer Support Network.

To donate to the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, visit https://www.classy.org/fundraiser/1633587 [link expired]

To learn more about the Firefighter Cancer Support Network, visit https://firefightercancersupport.org 

To learn more about Matty, visit http://www.mattygregg.com/

And here’s a news story from March, about Matty. 

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Run Card for New Hope Woods Fire

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Here’s the run card for New Hope Fire Department’s major woods fire last week, on Wednesday, May 29.

Some 50 acres were involved, and threatened some residential structures. The resources included 60 firefighters, 34+ pieces of apparatus, and a complete EMS box alarm with 16+ EMS personnel. 

The first units were dispatched at 5:02 p.m., with a fast-moving outside fire found in the area of an electric power transmission line easement, between Mitchell Mill and Old Milburnie roads. 

Command was located the Old Milburnie side, with New Hope Car 1 as Incident Commander, Rolesville Car 2 as Accountability, and Eastern Wake EMS District 6 as Medical Branch command.

Rolesville 203 was Operations Command, near the center of the fire. Wake Forest Car 6 and Battalion 3 were Aviation Branch, providing drone support starting about 60-70 minutes into the incident. 

Within 90 minutes into the incident, staging was moved to nearby New Hope Station 2. Medical monitoring and rehab was also established at that location. The New Hope FD Ladies Auxiliary also provided food and drinks to the weary firefighters. 

See photos from Legeros, of the support operations at the fire. He arrived about 45 minutes the incident started.

Run Card

New Hope FD
Engine 4 – Structural protection in Greenbrook subdivision
Engine 1 – Moved to Station 2, for staging/coverage
Tanker 9
Brush 7
ATV 31
Car 20 – Personnel transport
Car 1 – Incident commander 

Eastern Wake FD
Brush 6
Brush 7
ATV 

Hopkins FD
Tanker 227 – Water supply, Mitchel Mill side

Raleigh FD
Engine 28
Engine 22 – Staging/coverage
Mini 2
Mini 3

Rolesville FD
Engine 151
Pumper 152 – Water supply/Mitchell Mill
Tanker 157 – Water supply/Mitchell Mill
Brush 154
Brush 159
ATV 15
Car 2 – Accountability
203 – Operations Command

Wendell FD
Engine 115 – Staging/coverage
Tanker 117 – Water supply, Old Milburnie Road
Brush 115 – Staging/coverage

Wake Forest
Engine 1 – Staging, coverage
Tanker 2 – Water supply, Mitchell Mill Road
Brush 2
Battalion 3 – Aviation Branch (drone)
Car 6 – Aviation Branch (drone)

Zebulon FD
Tanker 98 – Water Supply, Mitchell Mill Road
Brush 99 – Staging

North Carolina Forestry
1190
1191
1195
11×95 (plow)

Wake County EMS + Eastern Wake EMS
EMS 10
EMS 16
EMS 38
EMS 61
EMS 66
EMS 67
EMS 68
Medic 92 – Rehab Group Supervisor, at NHFD Station 2
District 3 – Northside Medical Group Supervisor
District 9 – Medical Branch Director, with command
Chief 102 – Checked in with command
Logistics – Staging/rehab
Truck 1 – Staging/rehab

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New Pierce Pumper and Ladder for Zebulon

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Here are factory photos of the Zebulon Fire Department’s new Pierce Pumper 91 and Ladder 9. The ladder truck arrived on Tuesday, May 28. It’s a 2019 Pierce Enforcer PUC Ascendant, 1500/500/107-foot. The engine is due soon. Download the uncropped versions on the company’s Flickr site, https://www.flickr.com/piercemfg.

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New Ladder for Northern Wake

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Northern Wake Fire Department took delivery on Monday, May 21, of their new Ladder 35, a 2019 Pierce Impel PUC Ascendant, 1500/500/107-foot. 

Once in service, it’ll be housed at Station 3 on Norwood Road. It replaces a 1999 Pierce Dash rear-mounted aerial ladder, 1500/200/20/105-foot. 

It’s one of three incoming 107-foot Pierce quints in Wake County, with two more coming to Zebulon (any day now) and Garner (in production).

Photo by Lee Wilson. Visit his Flickr site for more pictures. 

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Black Auxiliary Firemen in Raleigh, 1942

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Found this neat piece of Raleigh history this week, with more details on black auxiliary firemen during World War II. Previously on the Legeros Channel, just a bit of this was known:

“A company of black auxiliary firefighters was suggested, or asked about. Some black citizens served as auxiliary firemen, as cited in the September 3, 1942, minutes of the Raleigh Fire Firefighters Association, Local 548. The minutes reference a meeting of ‘all auxiliary firemen, both white and colored.'”

This News & Observer story below, from May 5, 1942, greatly expands on that information. Memo to self, incorporate into these pages and documents:

etc.

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Colored Firemen’s Association Organized in 1890

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Found the correct date for the creation of the state colored firemen’s association, formally known as the North Carolina Volunteer Firemen’s Association.[1]

It’s been previously cited on my site, and in my writings, as “1888 or 1889.” That is incorrect. The year was 1890. The evidence is a pair of period newspaper articles:

  • Greensboro North State
    August 28, 1890
    “The colored firemen of the state will hold a tournament in this city, Sept. 10-11. The principal object is the formation of a state association of colored firemen…”
     
  • Greensboro North State
    September 18, 1890
    “Wednesday and Thursday of last week the colored fireman met in the city and perfected a State Association. Greensboro, Durham, Raleigh, Wilmington, Monroe and Charlotte were represented. The meeting was a pleasant one and the following officers were elected…”

This discovery aligns with a closer examination of other news stories of the period. There’s no prior mention of a formal organization or organization name prior to 1890. But after that time, the Association is mentioned.

Legeros has started updating and annotating his various web pages. As well as his pages of notes about his book projects, if the “1888 or 1889” date was committed to print in his Arcadia books or Raleigh FD history books.

Learn more at the Association, and read some vintage proceedings, at https://legeros.com/history/fa. And, of course, dive into the late Chuck Milligan’s research on the state’s black firefighters at https://legeros.com/history/ebf.

[1] Or even more accurately, they were incorporated in 1891 as the State Volunteer Fire Association of North Carolina. Read incorporation act at https://legeros.com/history/fa/documents.

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