Durham Highway Changes Unit Numbers

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On December 21, the Durham Highway Fire Department changed the unit numbers of their apparatus. They’re now using a numbering scheme that’s based on their Wake County fire station numbers:

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Durham Highway joins the following other Wake County fire departments, that also use that numbering scheme:

  • Bay Leaf – 12/120s, 25/250s, 36/360s
  • Hopkins – 22/220s
  • Knightdale – 13/130s
  • Rolesville – 15/150s
  • Stony Hill – 26/260s, 39/390s
  • Wendell – 11/110s
  • Western Wake – 19/190s, 29/290s
  • Zebulon – 9/90s

See this Carolinas Fire Page page, for a list of all Wake County fire station numbers. And here’s a Legeros Fire Blog Archives posting from 2008, where unit numbers were discussed, in the context of Wake Forest changing same. Was a topic frequently infrequently discussed on the old blog.

The numbering system originated in 1971, as a creation of the Wake County Fireman’s Association. Here’s a draft document from that period. Click to enlarge:

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Glen Lennox Fire Department in Chapel Hill

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November 18, 2019
Found some more information, from this Durham Morning Herald story, December 28, 1950: ” Glen Lennox Residents Get New Fire Truck – Chapel Hill, Dec. 27 – Residents of the Glen Lennox housing project awoke Christmas morning to the music of a fire siren and looked out of their windows to view the management’s Yuletide present to them: a fire engine.”

“The one-and-a-half-ton vehicle will be housed in the area’s business district, now under construction, when the area is completed next summer. A company of volunteer of volunteer firemen will be recruited from the 1,000-odd residents of the area to man the truck.”

“The truck was paraded around the project for several hours Christmas morning, before being put on display near the community Christmas tree. It will be kept in Durham until the ‘firehouse’ is finished.”

January 1, 2017
Here’s some more information that we’ve found. As the story goes, the fire engine was housed in a garage bay, in this building at the corner service station. When there was a fire, maintenance men at the shopping center and/or apartments would get the truck and respond. The building is still standing, and in this Google Maps photo, you can see the bricked-in bays on the side of the structure, where the fire truck was stored.

2016-12-29-glfd3Google Maps

December 29, 2016
Found a new mystery to solve. Glen Lennox Volunteer Fire Department in Chapel Hill. Protected the planned Glen Lennox community, which opened in 1950 with 314 apartment. The nearby shopping center opened in 1952, and additional apartments were added in 1953. 

The fire department operated this pictured truck, which looks like a home-built conversion with a wee water tank, a booster reel, a bed for larger hose, a couple ladders, and some small equipment.

The pictures were found on this Glen Lennox history site. No other information is (yet) provided. 

What’s the story? The department probably operated until at least 1959, which is when the Chapel Hill Fire Department opened its second station in Glen Lennox. And it was probably created as a stop-gap measure, between the time that the community opened and a fire station was built.

The town of Chapel Hill expanded its municipal limits for the first time in 1950. Between then and the time of the fire station’s opening (presumably), they annexed the Glen Lennox properties. 

Did they also install a municipal water system, including fire hydrants? Or did the Glen Lennox property owners have a private hydrant system? Good question. Either way, the larger diameter hose on the fire truck suggests that hydrants were present. 

And that’s all that’s known thus far! Including from our friends at CHFD, who were also surprised by this find. (Their members unearthed the photo, while researching the history of Station 2. The picture was included in a slideshow at the recent Station 2 open house.)

We will update this posting as new information is found. Click to enlarge:

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Photos courtesy of Grubb Properties

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Fairview Fire Starts First Responder – Carolina Rural Fireman, April 1982

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Vintage article from a publication called Carolina Rural Fireman, in April 1982. Thanks to our friend Joseph Zalkin for finding in his archives.

About the first county fire department First Responder program implemented by the Fairview Fire Department.

Other early implementations included the City of Raleigh (1977, first field use; 1980, city-wide), Raleigh-Durham Airport (1978), Morrisville (1983), Falls and Stony Hill (1985), Wake New Hope (1986), Durham Highway and Fairgrounds (1986), and the town of Cary (1989). Click to enlarge:

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Vintage Film – A Will and a Way, 1975 – The Story of the NC EMS System

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From his archives of retired Wake County EMS veteran Joseph Zalkin comes this 19-minute short film, A Will and a Way – The Story of Emergency Medical Services in North Carolina. 

Produced by the North State Office of EMS with a grant from the North Carolina Association of Insurance Agents, it describes the evolution of the state’s ambulance systems, from funeral home ambulances, to volunteer rescue squads, and finally a state EMS system.

There’s ample footage of Wendell Rescue Squad, including their old ambulances and some station and scene footage. Beacon Ambulance Service has a long bit, and there are some shots of looks like Clayton Rescue Squad. 

As for the street shots, most of those on St. Mary’s and Morgan streets, says Zalkin. The hospital location is old Rex Hospital, at St. Mary’s Street and Wade Avenue.

The film was converted some years ago from 16mm to S-VHS and later DVD. Recently re-discovered in Zalkin’s archives. Scroll down to watch. Scroll further down for more notes about this great footage. 

And, of course, for deep reading on the subject of local ambulance and rescue history, visit legeros.com/history/ems. From there, you’ll be directed to the History of EMS in Wake County Facebook page, for photos. 

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View on YouTube

Some of the familiar faces, notes Zalkin, include:

  • Bob Couick, former chief of Knightdale Area Rescue Squad and SWAB salesman. He’s featured as the driver in the opening sequence. 
  • Scott Alan, former supervisor of Wake County Animal Control, is the long-haired EMT in the back of the ambulance. 
  • Norman Dean and his wife Delores appear in the Wendell Rescue Squad sequence. He was a former State Trooper and a photographer. 
  • Dr. George Johnston from the University of North Carolina was a head of the emergency department and a surgeon.
  • Senator Jones, who was politically connected with a vision for better trauma management, introduced the legislation that formed the Office of EMS and began to regulate ambulances, training and hospital preparedness.
  • James (Jim) Page was an Los Angeles County Fire Captain, who got a law degree and was a special adviser to the Emergency! television series. He came to North Carolina to run the new Office of EMS, and brought a few folks who are still there.
  • Carl VanCott, for example, the chief of communications came from California and was an engineer on the biophone. That was the orange radio box that you saw on Emergency!

Says Zalkin about the film’s importance, North Carolina was a state that wanted the best from “Murphy to Manteo.” Other states had pockets of excellence but no statewide system.

This is more than a film, he notes, but a documentation of an early journey.

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Lebanon’s New Engine… And Other Notes

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The Lebanon Fire Department in Durham County has taken delivery of a 2016 Pierce Enforcer pumper-tanker, 1500/1250. New Engine 511, replacing a 2002 E-One Typhoon, which has been disposed to Smith Chapel FD in Duplin County. Should be in service any day now.

It’s also a rare Pierce for Durham County, maybe only the second for anyone in the county? (After Parkwood’s 2000 Freightliner/Pierce air/rehab unit.) See larger versions of this factory photo.

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Photographer Lee Wilson wandered that way last week, and took a few photos of the truck inside the station. See more photos from Lee.

2016-12-17-lfd1Lee Wilson photo

He also snapped a shot of their old fire station at 226 Milton Road. The station’s now a Durham County EMS facility, and has been housing LFD apparatus for the last two years, to aid in response times. On the EMS side, it houses Medic 6, the EMS Academy, the EMS Logistics Center, and the EMS Mobile Simulation and Training Unit.

2016-12-17-lfd2Lee Wilson photo

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Farewell Open Houses at Chapel Hill Fire Station 2

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The town of Chapel Hill is preparing to demolish Fire Station 2 on Hamilton Road. It will be rebuilt as part of a commercial development on the site. Engine 2 will move to temporary quarters in a modular home at 204 Finley Golf Course Road. They’ll be moving around the end of the month. Construction will take about a year. See this blog post from May about the project.

Three open houses are planned this month, for anyone who wants to visit the 1959 engine house one last time:

  • Saturday, Dec. 17 – 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
  • Tuesday, Dec. 20 – 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
  • Friday, Dec. 23 – 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Here’s a flyer that they’ve posted to their Facebook page. Click to enlarge:

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Durham Adds Pair of Pumper-Tankers

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The Durham Fire Department has taken delivery of two 2016 Sutphen Monarch pumper-tankers, 1500/1000. The new Engine 8 and Engine 15 were delivered on December 8. 

The engines are the first pumper-tankers for the city, and will serve at stations on the edge of the city that respond to areas without fire hydrants. They answer calls with county fire departments (Bahama, Lebanon, Redwood, and Durham County).

2016-12-14-dfd3Durham Fire Department photo

Equipped with 1000 gallon tanks instead of the typical 650 gallons–they switched from 500 gallons several years ago–the new engines are otherwise laid out the same. The rear roll-up compartment contains the booster reel, for example. Also, there’s no quick-dump valve(s) on the new trucks.

Photographer Lee Wilson paid a visit to the DFD shops last week and took these pictures. See more photos or click to enlarge:

2016-12-14-dfd1aLee Wilson photo

2016-12-14-dfd2aLee Wilson photo

2016-12-14-dfd2aLee Wilson photo

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The Five Faces of Fire Station 2

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This week, Engine 2 moved into temporary quarters at the old city radio/signals/sign shop on South Wilmington Street, in preparation for the renovation of their Pecan Street engine house. See this earlier blog post for information on the “down to the walls” rebuild.

This makes the fifth location for Station 2 since the career fire department was organized in 1912. Below is a photo history. Learn more about Station 2.

Left to right, top to bottom: Fayetteville Street (1912-1914), S. Salisbury Street (1914-1932), Memorial Auditorium (1932-1969), Pecan Road (1969-2016), S. Wilmington Street, temporary location (2016-2017). First photo is circa 1906, as the Rescue Company engine house and before the career fire department was activated in 1912. Click to enlarge:

2016-12-03-rfdaCredits: Mike Legeros Collection, North Carolina State Archives (x2), Mike Legeros (x2)

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New Pierce Aerial Ladder For Cary

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The Cary Fire Department has ordered a new aerial ladder, a Pierce Enforcer 1500/300/105-foot rear-mount. Believe this is planned for a new ladder company in the area of Station 7 or Station 8. Click to enlarge:

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From this Facebook posting by Atlantic Emergency Solutions, the features include:

  • Enforcer chassis with a 10” raised notched roof
  • TAK-4 front suspension
  • Detroit DD13 525hp
  • Allison EVS4500 transmission
  • USSC Valor Seats
  • Pierce Command Zone advanced electronics
  • Waterous 1500 gpm pump
  • 300 gallon tank
  • Crosslays 66” from ground
  • Harrison 6Kw generator
  • Akron Scenestar pedestal lights, removable
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Thousands Evacuated, Dozens of Homes Burned – Western NC Wildfires of April 1985

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What have been the worst wildfires in our state’s history? Either in recent decades or way back when? Below is a “worst one” from 1985. 

Let’s look back at another series of huge wildfires in western North Carolina. From the Raleigh Times on April 5, 1984, found while doing some local fire department research. List format, of course:

  • April 1985
  • Uncontrolled fires burning in Burke, Caldwell, Polk, and Wilkes counties.
  • Contained fires burning in Buncombe, McDowell, and Stokes counties.
  • As many as 8,000 “tinder-dry” acres burned.
  • As many as 44 homes destroyed.
  • Thousand evacuated.
  • Fought by 1,500 forest service members, 429 National Guardsmen, 400 emergency services personnel, and various other state/local officials.
  • Relief en route from National Guard, 36 firefighters from Guilford County, 300 firefighters from Texas and Mississippi.
  • Red Cross relief centers established.
  • Managed from Raleigh, at the state Emergency Operations Center, where 30 men and women coordinate emergency efforts:  employees from various state division, plus Highway Patrol, National Guard, Red Cross, and amateur radio operators.

2016-11-27-wildfireSmoke seen from Interstate 40 in Burke County. Courtesy News-Herald, from this April 2015 retrospective

Mineral Springs Mountain near Valdese

  • Worst of the fires
  • Nine firemen overcome by smoke.
  • Several residents also treated for minor smoke inhalation. Two treated for minor heart attacks.
  • Burned as many 20 houses and mobile homes.
  • Some 100 homes on the mountain threatened by flames.
  • “It’s run through poor neighborhoods and it’s run through nice neighborhoods” said Valdese Fire Chief Sherrill Brittain.
  • Six homes burned on outskirts of town.
  • Some parts of town, and nearby Rutherford College were evacuated.
  • “The wind’s been blowing 50 mph all day and it’s dry” said one resident. “I’m watering the grass down around my house and then I’m getting out of here.”
  • Shelters for evacuated residents at schools, churches, and National Guard armories.

Notes: Also/later called the High Peak fire. Notes this News Herald story from April 2015, it burned 4,770 acres, destroyed 27 homes, and cost more than $3M to extinguish. Cause later determined as local man burning garbage in cleared garden area. 

Rutherfordton

  • Six houses and two businesses destroyed in downtown Rutherfordton.
  • Some 75 families evacuated.
  • Air National Guardsmen brought blaze under control with shovels and rakes.
  • Flames reached within two blocks of the courthouse.

Buncombe County

  • 75 acres burned.
  • Fire contained.

Burke County

  • Interstate 40 and Highway 18 closed for several hours on Thursday, April 4.
  • Fire “closed in” on both sides of the roadways.
  • “There’s nothing but anxious people in this county right now” said Beth Henderson of Burke County EM.
  • County declared state of emergency on April 4, after 400 people were evacuated in the southeast corner of Valdese.
  • See Mineral Springs Mountain above.

Caldwell County

  • 1,500 acres have burned, mostly US Forest land.
  • On Thursday, residents were “rushed from their homes” as fire “raced over more than 1,000 acres of woodland.”
  • At least nine homes destroyed.
  • “It’s a total madhouse here” said a fire department dispatcher.

McDowell County

  • More than 1,000 acres burned in western McDowell County.
  • Three houses and one mobile home gutted.
  • Threatened Crooked Creek community of about 300 residences.
  • Some 25 families were evacuated.
  • “We’re calling it 80 percent contained at this time but we’re staying out there overnight just in case” said firefighter Charles Presnell.

Rutherford County

  • Ten acres burned.
  • Ten homes burned.
  • See Rutherfordton above.

Stokes County

  • 800 acres burned.
  • Fire contained.

Wilkes County

  • 200 acres burned.
  • Fire contained.

Then What Happened?

See this News Herald story from April 2015, remembering the High Peak Fire in Burke County, one of the blazes noted above.

The fire resulted in the development of a program utilizing inmates as firefighting resources. Notes the introduction to this legislative report on the Young Offenders Forest Conservation Program (PDF):

On April 4, 1985, within a one-hour period, three large wildfires broke out in the foothills and mountains of Western North Carolina. These fires, along with numerous smaller fires, destroyed thousands of acres of woodland and more than forty homes and outbuildings. The High Peak Fire destroyed 27 structures and 5,000 acres of woodland in Burke County alone. Resources were stretched to their breaking point and often unavailable.

Following the devastating 1985 fire season, the North Carolina Division of Forest Resources began exploring ways to supplement their wildland firefighting capabilities. After visiting an inmate program in Washington, and researching programs in California and Utah, the Division of Forest Resources, in conjunction with the North Carolina Division of Prisons, developed the concept of the BRIDGE Program. The concept focused on the training of inmate crews to be used and readily available when needed to suppress wildfires. 

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