History of an Abandoned Bridge

Posted by on

This is a blog archives posting from September 5, 2014. The page is corrupted on the old site, so we’re re-posting here.

Here’s a treat of a treat. Abandoned bridge over Crabtree Creek, just west of Crabtree Valley Mall. Specifically opposite Morehead Drive at Glenwood Avenue. Can be accessed both from the sidewalk on Glenwood, or a greenway trail on the other side of the bridge. And entirely unknown myself until this week. Talk about exciting!
 

 
Not a public roadway, but a private driveway. Served as access for a house that was located “up the hill.” Here’s an aerial photo from 1999, from the Wake County IMAPS site:
 

 
Local history buff Bill Ott shares some history:

There were two houses in there, the Kost house on the top of the hill to the left, and the Martin house on the hill to the right. The 1999 aerial photo shows the Martin house, I believe. The Kost house was moved in the 1970s, farther up the hill and closer to the Creedmoor Road extension to allow the Nationwide complex to built.

Leroy Martin Sr. and his wife Elva lived in the “upper house.” When Leroy died, Elva remarried my mother’s father Robert Kost. His son Leroy Martin Jr. and family lived at the “lower house.” My grandfather had an old Army jeep painted bright red. We used to ride in the pasture where Crabtree mall was built, chasing cows, fording the creek, etc. It was great fun for a small boy.

The bridge was originally all wood. It was replaced in the mid 1960s, as best I recall. The creek was diverted past that location, when construction of the mall began in the 1970s.

There was also gravel road out of the area, through the woods and that connected to the winding two-lane road that’s now Edwards Mill Road. You could reach both houses that way as well. This was before they built the road from Glenwood Avenue to the top of the hill behind Crabtree Mall.

If the name Leroy Martin sounds familiar, it’s also the name of a school on Ridge Road in Raleigh. Leroy Martin Junior High School, now middle school. Here’s a biography [link expired:http://www4.ncsu.edu/%7Enjrose/Special/Bios/Martin,L-Obit.html] of Leroy Martin Jr., from 2009. His wife Charlotte Martin was on the Wake County School Board for many years. Here’s a biography of Leroy Martin Sr., who was no less accomplished.

At least one retired Raleigh firefighter remembers a fire at Martin house, after being assigned to Station 17 when it opened in 1984. Access was off Edwards Mill Road, via dirt road.

See my photos from my late-day explorations this week. Seems safe enough. Feels solid underfoot, though there are quite a few missing boards. Who owns the bridge? It resides on private property, on a slender tract of vacant land that totals 3.66 acres. Described as “Fairview Farm.”

Up the hill is the Martin property, last owned by the family name in 1990. The tract is 36.39 deed acres and is presently the site of an apartment complex. The adjoining Nationwide Insurance site is 16.66 deeded acres. It was sold in 1974 by Fairview Development Company.

Guessing this was also part of Fairview Farm, later transformed or sold to a development company. The insurance building was built in 1975, say tax records. Maybe readers know more.

Related:

Reader Comments:

That small sliver of land between Glenwood and the creek, including the bridge, is still owned by the Martin family. (They also own the plot of land that houses the BB&T bank on Creedmoor Rd next to the creek.) I remember that there used to be a traffic light at Glenwood and Morehead, where the driveway lets out onto Glenwood, that was gone by about 1990 but the yellow control box still remains at the intersection.

As an aside, if the long-discussed reliever road that would connect Glenwood to the Beltline via Crabtree Valley Avenue is ever built, it would cut across this property and let out at the bridge. The right of way is already visible on the IMAPS site.

Brad LeBlanc (http://www.wakecountyroads.com/)

—

How about a rant about Glenwood Avenue through Crabtree Valley? That’s classic old-school Raleigh-style planning. Access roads and driveways. No considerations for free-flowing traffic.

My magic wand would close all driveways between Creedmoor and the Beltline. Maybe also the pair of side streets to inbound Glenwood outbound between Blue Ridge and the Beltline. Sure, that would place an inhuman burden on the roads that connect via controlled intersections. Guess you’d have to widen those.

Raleigh’s roads drive me nuts that way. Everything seemingly designed for a smaller, slower, less-dense city. (Which Raleigh was, and perhaps never expected the resulting exponential growth.) Greensboro always comes to mind as a nearby city with “throughways” that are more flowing and less interrupted by driveways.

Legeros

Facebook Comments

Raleigh Fire Department Plans – Future Ladder Companies, Raises Sought Instead of Staff

Posted by on

The News & Observer today published a pair of pieces about the Raleigh Fire Department, their plans with regard to additional ladder companies, and staff expansion as the Fire Chief seeks raises instead.

Additional Ladder Trucks 

This story from Chris Cioffi[*] discusses the department’s plans for additional ladder trucks, as well as their station construction renovation plans.

[*] Link now broken, http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article142942864.html

Salient points include:

  • Three stations to be rebuilt (though only one demolished, not three as cited in the story): Station 6 at its current location, and Station 12 and Station 14 at new locations.
  • These will allow for future 15-person ladder companies, and the shifting of ladders from current locations.
  • In the past decade, at least 20 mid-rise structures similar to the Metropolitan apartments have been built.
     
  • Current ratio of engines to ladders is about three to one.
  • The number of companies has grown from seven to nine, since 2006.
  • A tenth ladder company will be requested in the FY19 budget that begins July 1, 2018.
  • Two additional ladders are expected beyond that, though no firm dates have been set.
     
  • The rebuilding of Station 6 on Fairview Road is scheduled to start in May. The project cost is $6.4M.
  • The rebuilding of Station 12 on Poole Road is underway. The project cost is about $5.3M, and should be completed next winter.
  • Upon completion of Station 12 on Poole Road and Bus Way, Ladder 8 will be moved from Station 8. This will improve ladder coverage in the southeast part of the city. 
  • The rebuilding of Station 14 on Harden Road is planned for the “more distant future.” Estimated project cost is not yet available.

Raises Instead of Additional Staff

And this story from Paul Specht[*] is about Fire Chief John McGrath’s plans for the coming budget yet. He won’t press for new staff for one year, because he wants his firefighters to be better paid.

[*] Link now broken, http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/raleigh-report-blog/article142923269.html

Some of those details:

  • City Manager Ruffin Hall on Tuesday proposed a new pay structure that could affect all of the city’s 4,000 employees. It calls for new minimum and maximum salaries for most positions.
  • No details yet, however, on how many employees, in the fire department or elsewhere, would receive raises.
  • The changes, if adopted, would cost the city an additional $11M in the FY18 budget, which begins July 1.
     
  • This proposal follows the wage adjustment that took effect on April 1.
  • Salaries were raised for 2,101 city positions, including more than 500 of the fire department’s 611 employees.
  • Firefighters received raises ranging from 6 to 13 percent for lower-level employees, and 2 to 4 percent for others.
     
  • Staff needed by the fire department, and forgone in the coming budget, are 60 new firefighters, three platoon EMS coordinators, three additional Battalion Chiefs, an inventory specialist, and a training captain. 
Facebook Comments

Cary Receives New Pierce Pumper… And Some Trivia

Posted by on

The Cary Fire Department yesterday received their new Engine 9, a 2017 Pierce Enforcer 1500/500. It was delivered to Atlantic Emergency Solutions in Fayetteville on March 30, and arrived at Station 1 on Tuesday.

Lee Wilson paid a visit and snapped this picture. See his photo album. 

2017-04-05-cfdLee Wilson photo

It replaces a 2003 Pierce Dash, 1250/500, fleet #1957. And Station 9, as you recall, is housed at old Station 2 at 875 SE Maynard Road. It’s a temporary location until their permanent quarters are erected farther south at 1427 Walnut Street.

This is the town’s second Pierce Enforcer pumper, following the similarly spec’ed Engine 5, a 2017 model delivered last year. 

Cary + Pierce – Since 1982

2017-04-05-cfd2
Photo credits: Lee Wilson, Mike Legeros, Town of Cary

By my count, this is town’s twenty-ninth piece of Pierce fire apparatus since 1982. (Readers, please check my work!)

  • 1 – Ford C chassis/Pierce body
  • 3 – Arrow 
  • 7 – Dash
  • 2 – Enforcer
  • 5 – Lance
  • 11 – Velocity

With this spread of apparatus types:

  • 17 pumpers
  • 6 aerial platforms
  • 4 rescue trucks, heavy
  • 1 service truck
  • 1 aerial ladder.

And with a couple exceptions and notes:

  • The single service truck, a 1993 Pierce Lance, is really a rescue body, used as a service truck. Heavy rescue, walk-around. 
  • The 1999 Pierce Lance aerial platform received a new aerial device in 2002, after the SkyArm aerial collapsed at a structure fire on June 4, 2002.
  • The fire department also operated a 2001 Pierce Dash (model?) aerial platform during 2002, loaned by Pierce, but never titled to the town.

Mr. Blogger has lately updated and refreshed his unofficial Cary FD web site, including an expanded historical timeline and the addition of a detailed fleet listing (PDF).  Tool over and take a look.

Facebook Comments

Destruction of the State House – June 21, 1831

Posted by on

April 6
Transcription of the old articles added, scroll to the bottom.

April 2
Speaking of great fires in the city’s history, did you know that the original State Capitol was destroyed by fire? The building was called the State House and it burned one morning in June 1831.

2017-04-02-house
Jacob Marling painting, 1818 

Awful Conflagration!

June 21, 1831. Tuesday morning. About 7:00 a.m.

The State House was ablaze on Union Square.

Raleigh’s citizens were summoned to the scene to help fight the fire. But all attempts to extinguish the blaze proved pointless–they had only the simplest of equipment: buckets, wells, and one hand-operated fire engine–and bystanders were instead directed to protect the other public and privates on the square. They also assisted with saving the official archives.

No other buildings were damaged, and the spread of the flames may have been retarded by the large oak trees that surrounded the State House, speculated newspaper editor Joseph Gales.

Most of the public records were saved, along with some furniture, and a painting of George Washington that still hangs in the Capitol today. Lost in the blaze, however, was a marble statue of Washington by Italian sculptor Antonia Canova, considered one of the masterpieces of the world. Or so said the stories of the time. (Mr. Blogger isn’t an art historian, nor plays one on television.)

The fire was believed to have started during the installation of a new fireproof roof, by the careless actions of a construction working while soldering the zinc material.

This fire and a series of other destructive fires in the 1830s had one positive effect: city, county, and state governments began building using more fire-resistant materials. Stone and brick were used in the 1837 County Courthouse, the 1840 City Hall, and the 1840 State Capitol. Several business on Fayetteville Street, that lost their buildings in an 1833 fire, also rebuilt with brick.

Raleigh Register, June 1831

Two days after the fire, this account appeared in the weekly newspaper The Raleigh Register. Then a second story, with more details, was published the week after.

Scroll down for a transcript.

2017-04-02-state-house-1831-1 2017-04-02-state-house-1831-2

Continue reading ‘Destruction of the State House – June 21, 1831’ »

Facebook Comments

The Keeper of Raleigh’s Fire History – News & Observer Profile

Posted by on

Yours Truly was profiled in Sunday’s News & Observer, as a Tar Heel of the Week in a story by Marti Maguire. Excellent piece about my passion for the fire service, the many hats that I wear, and the path that led me to this hysterical, historical place. 

Read the article[*], which is reprinted below.

[*] Link now broken, http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/counties/wake-county/article140771208.html

2016-03-27-mjl
News & Observer photo

By Marti Maguire

CORRESPONDENT

MARCH 25, 2017 02:09 PM, UPDATED MARCH 28, 2017 10:22 AM

RALEIGH

Mike Legeros has been chasing fires nearly as long as he could walk. According to family lore, he once ran out to chase a fire engine on foot as a preschooler. Later, he would sit in the windowsill outside the fire department, waiting to take off on his bike behind the engines should the alarms sound.

He became a firefighter briefly, but has since settled into an unusual role as the keeper of Raleigh’s fire history and a photographer who chronicles the work of local firefighters.

Legeros has written and collected historical photos for two books on Wake County firefighters, and is the president of the Raleigh Fire Museum, a collection of photos and memorabilia tracking the history of fighting fires in the city and beyond.

It’s a niche that has gotten some extra attention in the days following what is likely the largest fire in downtown Raleigh in nearly a century, which Legeros photographed and has been following closely on his blog.

His role within the Raleigh Fire Department is unpaid but highly valued. Division Chief Ronny Mizell says Legeros has made “priceless” contributions to the department – everything from taking pictures at retirement parties to teaching new recruits about department history to in-depth research projects. 

For example, Mizell says, Legeros researched the history of the department’s hiring practices, including female and minority firefighters, and recently sent out a detailed timeline of how the various Wake County fire and EMS departments developed.

“He is a history buff and he loves taking photographs but it’s not just that,” says Mizell. “It’s all the information and the history and how he puts it together. It’s not just a history of fire engines. It’s about understanding the past and having information that helps everyone move forward.”

FROM AVOCATION TO VOCATION
Legeros grew up in Minnesota. If he wasn’t following fire trucks, he would often watch reruns of the show “Emergency!” He kept a running record of the calls made in each episode.

“There’s an excitement to fire and emergencies that has always fascinated me,” he says. “It’s a moment that’s very raw, and then the response is so heroic.”

He moved to North Carolina as a teenager, graduating from high school in Morehead City and moving to Raleigh to attend N.C. State University.

He planned to be a high school math teacher. But he also worked at the college radio station, and after college got a job as a traffic reporter for a local radio station – a profession that relied on his monitoring of the police scanner.

For his next step, he decided to pursue his lifelong interest by becoming a Raleigh firefighter, which he did for about three years.

“It was a great job,” he says. “But my path was somewhere else.”

He worked for a while as a dispatcher at the 911 center, and then returned to NCSU to take classes in professional writing and computer science that helped him land a job at SAS. He started out as a trainer there in 1993 and now works on the company’s web team.

But he never abandoned his love of firefighting.

In that late 1990s, he started a website where he posted pictures and other information. By the early 2000s, he started doing research on the history of local fire departments, much of it through visits to the state archives.

He also visited local fire departments, asking to see their old photos. With a growing collection, he pitched the idea of a photo book on fire history to a publisher, and wrote two books on the topic, published in 2003 and 2004 for Arcadia Publishing’s “Images of America” series.

Finding the best photos for these books helped him build relationships with fire departments in Raleigh and other towns.

“That’s the first set of bricks in this foundation,” says Legeros. “I started spending more time in Raleigh, going through the old station log books, and as I’m doing this, I’m putting everything I learned on my web page.”

What emerged is a chronological history of the fire department, which he has since made into a book for the department’s 100th anniversary in 2012.

He also increased his work as a photographer. In recent years, he’s had special credentials through the city and county that allow him greater access to fire scenes. He shares his photos with local departments, which use them for training and marketing.

In 2006, Legeros was named the official historian for the Raleigh Fire Department. He has since started producing a quarterly newsletter that documents department milestones, such as promotions and major fires.

Soon after, he and others created the historical society that eventually gave way to the museum, which opened in 2010 in a donated classroom space near the department’s training facility south of downtown.

‘A FUN STEW’
At the museum, a medley of fire calls plays in the background, while footage from the 1950s shows firefighters training downtown, jumping shirtless into their fire suits and hopping down poles to trucks that were then open in the back.

Open one day a month, the museum houses a variety of artifacts, including photos of major fires, old ledger books, a 140-year-old bell that once announced a fire and later resided at NCSU, and a bucket with a rounded bottom so that it wouldn’t be used as a mop bucket and end up out of place when it’s needed.

Displays also highlight Legeros’ historical writing, including one on suburban firefighters. He’s documented the local history of major trends in firefighting, from technology that moved from hand pump to steam engine to fire hydrant, as well as structural changes like the move from volunteer to professional firefighters who are also trained in emergency medial care and special skills.

I’m like a Mississippi bullfrog sitting on a block of wood, and depending on how I’m feeling, I can do some history, take some pictures, play with my blog.

He also looks into special topics. He recently wrote a moment-by-moment account of a sniper shooting at North Hills in 1972, and once helped Wake EMS research its origins back to the days when most ambulances were owned by funeral homes (they had the only cars that could carry someone laying down).

In addition to his historical work, he holds talks on topics such as as how to take incident photos and do historical research. He’s helping Apex EMS scan scrapbooks from its ladies auxiliary, among other projects.

“It’s a fun stew,” he says. “I’m like a Mississippi bullfrog sitting on a block of wood, and depending on how I’m feeling, I can do some history, take some pictures, play with my blog.”

But the recent fire at a downtown construction site has consumed his time of late. He says his pager went off around the time the fire started, and he spent about three hours there taking pictures. He’s compiling a narrative of the fire this month for his blog and is posting regular updates on Twitter.

“I’m applying my historian’s eye to tell the story,” he says. “This was truly a historic fire and it was an amazing privilege to be part of the dedicated men and women that fought it.”

Know someone who should be Tar Heel of the Week?

Mike Legeros

Born: June 1965, Minneapolis

Residence: Raleigh

Career: Senior digital marketing specialist, SAS; president Raleigh Fire Museum; fire historian and photographer

Awards: N.C. Governor’s Award for Volunteer Service, 2015; Volunteer of the Year, Wake County Government, 2014; Friend of First Responder Award, Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce; second place for web news story, 2011 Media Awards, International Association of Fire Fighters

Education: Bachelor’s in mathematics education and certificate in professional writing, N.C. State University

Family: Wife Julie

Fun fact: Legeros is well-known for his wardrobe, which consists of a seemingly endless array of Hawaiian shirts. “Life is too short to wear boring clothing,” he says.

Learn more: See Legeros’ photos and detailed summaries of the recent Raleigh fire and others at www.legeros.com. The Raleigh Fire Museum is open the second Saturday of every month from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Learn more at www.raleighfiremuseum.org.

Facebook Comments

Five Alarms in Downtown Raleigh – Moved to New Site

Posted by on

March 26
This posting and its content has been moved to a dedicated page on the Raleigh Fire Museum web site.

Head over to www.raleighfiremuseum.org/content/metropolitan.

2016-03-26-rfd

March 22
WNCN news links added, more suppression details, incident notes formatted, canteen service added, need to add to diagram “A/B/C/D explanation.”

March 21
Added more news links, more damage details and times, etc. 

March 20
Adding more photo and video links, more details to the incident details, etc.

March 19
Added more incident notes.

March 18
Let’s add some news and media links…

March 17
Five alarms were struck last night, at 400 West North Street in downtown Raleigh. Largest  downtown fire in decades. Lots to report. See run card on this new site.

Facebook Comments

Wake County Fire Commission Meeting – March 16, 2017

Posted by on

A regular meeting of the Wake County Fire Commission will be held on Thursday, March 16, 2017. The location is the Wake County Emergency Service Education Center, 221 South Rogers Lane. They’ll be in Suite 160, the large conference room. The meeting starts at 7:00 p.m.

Agenda is below. View the meeting documents.

  • Meeting Called to Order: Chairman Billy Myrick
    • Invocation
    • Pledge of allegiance
    • Roll of Members Present
  • Items of Business
    • Approval of Agenda
    • Adoption of Minutes for January 26, 2017 Regular Meeting
    • Adoption of Minutes for March 2, 2017 Special Called Meeting
  • Regular Agenda
    • Staffing and Deployment Recommendations
    • County Wide Infectious Control Manual
    • Facility Assessments
  • Information Agenda
    • Fire Tax Financial Report
    • Standing Committee Updates
      • Administrative
      • Apparatus
      • Budget
      • Communications
      • Equipment
      • Facility
      • Staffing and Compensation
      • Steering
      • Training
    • Chair Report
    • Fire Services Director Report
  • Other Business
  • Public Comments:
    • Comments from the public will be received at the time appointed by the Chairman of the Fire Commission for 30 minutes maximum time allotted, with a maximum of 3 minutes per person. A signup sheet for those who wish to speak during the public comments section of the meeting is located at the entrance of the meeting room.
  • Adjournment – Next Meeting May 18, 2017
Facebook Comments

Architect Selected for New Raleigh Fire Headquarters and Central Fire Station

Posted by on

On February 21, 2017, the City Council selected Davis Kane Architects to provide professional services for the fire department’s new Headquarters and Fire Station 1.

Note the recently published minutes (PDF), they’ll provide “architectural; engineering and other design services; environmental and surveying services; cost estimating and construction related services in anticipation of relocating Fire Station One and potential to establish a headquarters facility for the Fire Department.”

We have blogged before the Headquarters/Station 1 project, when the FY17 budget was approved in May 2016. Let’s take a longer look at the project, and the two facilities themselves.

New Downtown Fire Department Facility

This project will combine Headquarters (administrative offices) and Central Fire Station (Station 1). These have been long-simmering projects, identified as facility needs for a few years now. 

The office space component was attempted earlier as part of the Lightner Public Safety Center, developed in the 2000s. That was a seventeen-story structure (!)  proposed for the northwest corner of Hargett and McDowell streets. The project was aborted in 2010.1

Headquarters

2017-03-12-rfd-sta1-2
Dillon Building – Google Maps

The administrative offices of the Raleigh Fire Department are currently housed in the Dillon Building at 310 W. Martin Street. That’s just around the corner from Station 1. They’ve occupied the space since 1994.

Prior locations of fire department offices included:

  • 1993 to 1997 – Career Department Center, housed in old Station 4 – 2913 Wake Forest Road
  • 1991 to 1994 – Professional Building – 127 W. Hargett Street
  • 1984 to 1991 – Municipal Building – 222 W. Hargett Street
  • 1982 to 1984 – Keeter Training Center – 105 Keeter Center Drive
  • 1953 to 1991 (plus later periods) – Station 1.

Headquarters, as the letters read on the second-floor door, includes workspaces for:

  • Office of the Fire Chief
  • Office of the Fire Marshal
  • Information Technology
  • Assistant Chief of Operations and staff
  • Assistant Chief of Services
  • Assistant Chief of Training

Currently that’s some forty-five or fifty people who occupy or share offices on the second floor and the mezzanine.

Central Fire Station

2017-03-12-rfd-sta1-3

The city’s largest engine house sits on a prime piece of downtown real estate at 220 S. Dawson Street. It also faces Nash Square, home to the North Carolina Fallen Firefighters Memorial.

The fire station site is a valuable one, and just as choice as the adjoining Dillon Building. The corner lot proper at Dawson and Martin, meanwhile, is occupied by old Union Station.

2017-03-12-rfd-sta1-1

Earlier Fire Stations

Central Fire Station opened in 1953, and on a site that was purchased over a decade earlier, when Station 1 on West Morgan Street was closed. The 1896 structure had been condemned for years, and the fire department re-opened old Station 2 on South Salisbury Street.

It was intended as a short-term solution. That was August 1941. Then Pearl Harbor was attacked in December, and the resources for (and priorities for) such projects were wiped off the table.

2017-03-12-rfd-sta1-4
Station 1 after closure in 1941, left. Station 1 at old Station 2, right. Courtesy North Carolina State Archives

Station 1 on South Salisbury Street operated from 1941 to 1953, and housed Engine 1 and Engine 2. See, the two ladder trucks–the 1939/1916 American LaFrance tiller and the 1922 American LaFrance service truck–were moved to Fire Station 2 at Memorial Auditorium. They were too big for the Salisbury Street fire station.

They displaced Engine 2, which was housed at Station 1 until 1949. That year, a permanent Station 6 opened, and the service truck was moved there, and Engine 2 returned to its quarters at the auditorium. Got it?

The Dawson Street Fire Station

2017-03-12-rfd-sta1-12

Station 1 is solid, squat structure of bricks and blocks. Two stories with 11,200 square-feet of heated square feet, which was palatial when it opened, but is way too small for current needs. Planned is 21,000 square-feet for its replacement., nearly double the current size.

Upstairs are bedrooms, bathrooms, and a small day room. Downstairs is a radio room (or watch room), two offices, two bathrooms, and a small kitchen slash dining room. The rear apparatus bay also serves as the downstairs day room, with a quartet of chairs and couches in the back corner, by the kitchen and rear door.

2017-03-12-rfd-sta1-8

Five vehicles are parked on the tile apparatus floor: Engine 1, Engine 13, Ladder 4 (one of the city’s two “tiller” trucks), Car 401 (the investigator’s unit), and Car 402 (the investigator’s back-up unit).

There’s also a long wooden rack along the north wall, where all the firefighter’s coats and helmets hang. Below, on a long ledge, are their bunker pants and boots.

And two fire poles. Station 1 has them, along with Station 3 and the soon-to-be-rebuilt Station 6. Which, at last report, won’t have a fire pole.

2017-03-12-rfd-sta1-5
The alarm house behind Station 1.

Exercise equipment is stored in a unique outbuilding, in the rear of the parking lot: the two-story, 1942 alarm house.2

Also, fun fact, the cars at the fire station must be reshuffled each day, to make room for the next day’s incoming firefighters! The parking lot simply isn’t large enough.

2017-03-12-rfd-sta1-6

See this web page of mine for earlier history of Station 1, both the present building and earlier locations.

New Headquarters/Fire Station

For years, these facility needs have been percolating. In their five-year strategic plan (PDF) published in 2015, the fire department identified a strategic objective to relocate both Station 1 and Headquarters.

Earlier this year, the project was moved to the forefront and initial funding was approved in the FY17 budget for $23,855 over four years.

Here’s the program description, from the FY17 budget document:

To meet the Fire Department’s operational and administrative needs, and to facilitate economic development efforts in the downtown Warehouse district, the CIP funds a replacement for Fire Station 1 and a replacement administrative space for Fire Department management staff. Staff tentatively expects to construct a new station up to 21,000 square feet, an administration space up to 13,000 square feet. The project budget also funds land acquisition and a parking deck. Depending on the site selected for the station, additional land and a parking deck may not be necessary in this case, the project budget will be decreased.

Next Steps

Site selection is underway, with a location in the area of the Convention Center. Programming has also started, as fire department officials and other stakeholders determine the scope and functions of the facility.

From conversations we’ve heard, it sounds like a multi-story building with a fire station on the ground level and couple stories of office space. Plus parking, perhaps a parking deck. 

Watch this space for future updates. We’ll update this posting, versus creating new ones. This’ll be our single source for reporting project news. 

More to come!

Footnotes

1 Here’s a city council presentation (PDF) about the Lightner Public Safety project from 2008. It was planned to house both fire and police headquarters, the city/county emergency communications center, and other agencies, as well as a 600-seat assembly hall, cafe, and credit union. 

2The alarm house was erected in 1942, to house the equipment of the electric-telegraph fire alarm system. Its construction included using materials recycled from the 1896 fire station. The two-story structure served many purposes over the decades, from a dispatch center to office space to a records room. Read a history of the building.

Facebook Comments

Town of Smithfield Buying Building For Second Fire Station

Posted by on

The town of Smithfield this week announced the planned purchase of the former Johnston Ambulance Service at 1200 Highway 70 Business, as a location for a second fire station.

The 6,450 square-foot building was erected in 2007. The ambulance company ceased operations in August 2016. Here’s a Google Maps street view picture of the structure:

2017-03-11-sfd

Here’s the press release:

March 8, 2017
 For Immediate Release

The Mayor and Town Council are pleased to announce that they have entered into an agreement to purchase the once Johnston Ambulance Service property located on Highway 70 West in Smithfield for $425,000. When the opportunity to purchase the property presented itself, the Council determined this would be an ideal location for a second Fire Station. The structure on site fits the needs of a Fire Station by providing apparatus bays as well as a space for operational duties. The property is perfectly located to provide coverage for the West Smithfield and for increased residential, commercial and industrial growth in the area. The Mayor and Town Council are committed to ensuring that all citizens and visitors have a safe place to live, work and play in the Town of Smithfield.

For additional information, please contact Tim Kerigan at 919.934.2216 ext. 1109 or via email at tim.kerigan@smithfield-nc.com

Facebook Comments

Wake County Civil Defense Siren Snapshot – September 1972

Posted by on

Found a neat snapshot of the county Civil Defense siren system, from September 1972. Source is an unidentified newspaper article dated September 9, 1982. Likely the Fuquay-Varina Independent. 

The story is about the Fuquay-Varina Rural Fire Department having recently purchased and installed a new ten-horsepower emergency warning siren.

It was purchased with the aid of the Fuquay-Varina Civil Defense Office, and matching funds from the federal government, which paid half of the $3,000 cost. And had three emergency signals:

  • Fire Signal – Series of rapidly alternating high and low-pitch tones.
    Hear example (either exact or similar) found on YouTube. 
    This alerted the volunteer firefighters. 
  • Alert Warning – Steady three to five-minute sustained, double-tone blast.
    Hear example found on YouTube.
    Designed for alerting the public to a “possible threat to the general safety of the community.” This was a signal for residents to tune into local radio or television stations, for information on such situations from a tornado sighting to “strategic warning of an anticipating enemy attack.”
  • Attack Warning – High- and low-note combination, changing from low to high volume, creating an wavering effect, for three to five minutes.
    Hear example found on YouTube.
    Used only for “warning of an actual enemy attack.” 

The article also includes a number of nifty historical points about the county-wide siren system in September 1972:

  • Raleigh has five sirens.
  • Cary has one siren.
  • Garner has one siren.
  • Holly Springs has one siren being installed.
  • Wendell has one siren.
  • Zebulon has one siren.

All have three-signal capabilities, like the new Fuquay-Varina siren. Nearby towns with similar sirens include Angier and other towns in Harnett County. 

All of the county sirens, and all three of their signals, can be activated “by radio beam” from the Raleigh/Wake County Emergency Communications Center (ECC). Following a siren activation, “county fire radio net” announcements are made to the appropriate fire department.

The ECC is in “constant contact” with the National Warning Center “via hotline,” and is monitored on a 24-hour basis. The alert and attack warning signals are tested on the first Wednesday of each month at 11:55 a.m., from the ECC

Facebook Comments