This is a blog version of a Facebook posting originally posted November 4, 2023.

Time for a history mystery. When did the role of the state fire marshal merge into the position of the commissioner of insurance? Have seen some conflicting references. Let’s dig a bit.

The position of state fire marshal was created in 1914[1], with the hiring of Raleigh Fire Chief Sherwood Brockwell as Deputy Insurance Commissioner and Fire Marshal. He the held the role for 39 years, until his death at age 67 in 1953.[2]

Reported the News & Observer a month after his passing, Insurance Commissioner Waldo Cheek planned to take his time naming a new state fire marshal. In the meantime, three deputy fire marshals–Everett B. Jones, Kenneth Dixon, and Kern E. Church –would split the duties. Then what happened?

No new state fire marshal was ever appointed, it appears. And somewhere between the mid-1950s and mid-1980s, the role of state fire marshal was folded into the position of the commissioner of insurance.

When know what happened in 1953, after Brockwell’s death. And we haven’t yet found a citation prior to 1985.

That’s when Section 66 of Chapter 666 [!] of SB 738, An Act to Improve the Regulation of Insurance by Making Technical Improvements and Other Needed Changes, included this language: “As used in this Article and elsewhere in the General Statutes, ‘State Fire Marshal’ means the Commissioner of Insurance of the State of North Carolina.”

Thus, we know the state fire marshal position was merged into the commissioner’s position by 1985. But how much earlier? Good question.

Still searching for citations, in legislation or other historical records. Maybe it was indeed codified in law. Maybe it was an unofficial evolution.

Meanwhile, will keep looking.

History Chart

(new learning aid, work in progress)

JPG – https://legeros.com/history/charts/content/nc-osfm-history.jpg
PDF – https://legeros.com/history/charts/content/nc-osfm-history.pdf

Research Notes

Read Mike’s research notes on the history of OSFM at https://legeros.com/history/osfm/

Footnotes

[1] Was the position of state fire marshal created by legislative act? Doesn’t appear so. Searching the session laws from 1913 forward, via the interface at https://ncleg.gov/Documents/1/12431, the first appearance of the phrase “state fire marshal” doesn’t appear until decades later.

[2] Read his obituary at https://www.legeros.com/blog-archives/content/2009-05-24-brockwell-obituary.pdf

This is a blog version of a Facebook posting originally posted November 1, 2023.

In the early 1970s, “radio patrol” units were operating in such western North Carolina counties as McDowell, Mitchell, and Yancey. These were volunteer organizations whose members were each equipped with two-way citizen band (CB) radios, and one or more people monitoring those radios 24/7. These units were part of a larger group organization named the North Carolina Radio Patrol and Emergency Service.

The mission of these units was described in the Yancey Record on August 19, 1971, as “sworn to observe and report crimes, fires, vandalism, accidents, robberies, burglaries, and anything suspicious or unusual; to report all deliberate traffic violators, to assist deserving motorists who are broken down, out of gas or in need of assistance.” And to also “help the police, highway patrol and all law enforcement agencies; the fire department; local county, state civil defense, and federal agencies whenever their services are needed.”

Old issues of the Yancey Record via DigitalNC recount such unit activities as:

• assisting CAP members searching for a downed plane in Buncombe County in May 1972
• sponsoring a blood drive in Burnsville for the American Red Cross in October 1975
• helping to evacuate stranded residents in Mitchell County after the great flood of November 1977, which resulted in washed out bridges and roadways, left hundreds of people homeless, killed eleven people, and caused property damage in the millions of dollars.

Readers, take over with memories or histories in comments. 

Specific Agencies

Among the specific radio patrol organizations were:

Mitchell County Radio Patrol

• Incorporated with the state in April 1974 as Mitchell Rescue Squad Inc.
• Later renamed Mitchell Radio Patrol and Rescue Squad, Inc.
• Later renamed Mitchell Radio Patrol and Emergency Services, Inc.
• Later renamed Mitchell Radio Patrol, Emergency Services & First Responders, Inc.
• Based in Spruce Pine, at least in later decades.

Radio Patrol Emergency Service and Community Watch

• Incorporated with the state in December 1967
• Renamed Radio Patrol Emergency Search and Rescue Service
• Corporate office in Burnsville.

North Carolina Radio Patrol

What’s the origin of NCRP? From the Asheville Times on March 7, 1973, the non-profit organization was founded in 1967 and was composed of over 200 members in six counties, that assisted “in such emergencies as fires, wrecks, searches, drownings, and plane crashes.”

There was apparently also an earlier iteration of the NCRP, as the group was mentioned on page 41 of the March 1939 issue of QST magazine, for amateur radio operators. See the archived issue.

What became of the NCRP? It apparently evolved into a regional participant of REACT, a national group with a similar mission.

Sources

Selected sources include:

Yancey Journal, November 1977, issues about the great flood: November 10, November 17.

November Rain: Remembering the Flood of 1977, Mitchell County Historical Society, web page.

Photo Information

Vintage license plate – Photo from eBay, from a closed listing.

Mitchell County Radio Patrol – Building and converted ambulance in Spruce Pine, photographed by Mike Legeros in October 2010.

Marion Radio Patrol, circa 1960 – Courtesy McDowell County Public Libraries. Shown left to right are Dollie Collins, Hollie Hollifield, Odell Hyatt, Nolan Lawing, L.G. Collins, and Clifford Epley. Names from the 2013 book Marion by Kim Clark, The McDowell House Project Advisory Committee, published 2013 by Arcadia Publishing.

More Photos

This is a blog version of an earlier Facebook posting.

Mutual aid to Greensboro, April 1936. From a reader, after a tornado struck the Gate City on April 2, 1936, neighboring fire departments responding to render aid, including Asheboro, Burlington, Graham, High Point, Reidsville, and Winston-Salem. State Fire Marshal Sherwood Brockwell also responded, to help the Greensboro Fire Chief and other officials.

The F4 tornado was part of an outbreak that struck the southeastern US. The twister struck Greensboro in the evening, leaving a long path of damage across the south side of the city. It killed 14 deaths and 144 injuries and left $2M in damage. It was the second-deadliest tornado in the state’s history.

Shown is the April 3, 1936, edition of the Greensboro Record.