Cary Fire Chief Changes in 1966 & 1967

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Found a pair of Hose & Nozzle magazine issues from early 1967, that tell about the fire chief changes in Cary during the time. Editorial notes are interspersed:

March-April 1967:

Matthews Named Chief at Cary

Retired RALEIGH Fire Captain [wrong, was Asst. Chief, see below] Lee Matthews has been named acting chief of the Cary Fire Department.

Town manager L. L. Lane said Matthews, a Cary resident for many years, “took the job reluctantly be cause he really was enjoying retirement…but came to help us out of a jam and is doing a fine job of running things for us. He’s helping us get reorganized.”

Matthews is filling a vacancy created by the department of Chief J. W. Ward [who] resigned in mid-January after being on the job less than three months. Lane said it was a “regular resignation.” Ward succeeded Don Tripp, who resigned last October for “personal reasons.” Both Tripp and Ward have moved away from Cary.

Ed. notes:

R. Lee Matthews retired from Raleigh as an Assistant Fire Chief in 1963. He had thirty-seven years of service. He was appointed on January 21, 1967. He served for four months and twenty days. See notes below.

Don Tripp is a new name for Mr. Blogger. He’ll add to his list of Wake County fire chiefs past ‘n’ present (pdf).

May-June 1967:

Ayscue Named Cary Fire Chief

Frank Ayscue, 24, who served five years with the Henderson Fire Department, is Cary’s new fire chief.

Ayscue replaces Lee Matthews, retired officer of the Raleigh Fire Department, who had acted as interim chief since the resignation of Chief J. W. Ward.

Ed. notes:

Clarence Frank Ayscue was appointed on May 1, 1967, and served until July 15, 1968, when he was hired as a firefighter for the City of Raleigh. He retired from the department as a Senior Firefighter in 1989.

Cary’s first paid fire chief was Calvin Beck, who served from 1963 to 1966. He was followed by Don Tripp, as noted above, and then John W. Ward, who was appointed on October 15, 1966.

After Chief Ayscue, the department was led by John L. Dew (1968-69), Billy Henderson (1969-71), Terry Edmundson (1971-75), and then Ned Perry (1975-93), a former Raleigh Fire Captain. Here’s a prior blog post about the RFD/CFD command connection.

Following Chief Perry was Wayne House (1993-2002) and Allan Cain (2003-present). See also my outdated CFD historical timeline.

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Raleigh & Wake County Fire Station News & Updates

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What s happening with fire station construction and/or planning around Raleigh and Wake County?

Here’s your spring 2016 update, for both municipal and county departments. Sources are direct queries to nearly every Fire Chief in the county, or their staff. Plus sundry budget documents or news stories. Thanks all for answering my questions. Signed, Planning Geek.

Note: Omitted are those fire departments with no news to report, or changes planned.

Apex

  • Station 5 – Under construction at intersection of Apex Barbecue Road and Kelly Road. Completion expected by end of calendar year.
  • Station 6 – Need for future fire station identified in northwest Apex, e.g. west of Interstate 540 and north of Highway 64.

Bay Leaf – See Northwest Wake County

Cary

  • Station 9 – Planned for 1427 Walnut Street, land owned by town, site of an unused church building. Funding proposed for coming budget year.
  • Station 10 – Planned for 2495 O Kelly Chapel Road in Chatham County. Land purchased last year. Funding proposed for FY20 and FY21.
  • Projected for future growth are these locations, with planned funding in FY22-FY27:
  • Station 11 – White Oak Church Road
  • Station 12 – West Lake/Middle Creek
  • Station 13 – Lewter Shop Road at Highway 751
  • Station 14 – Pleasant Grove Church Road at the airport
  • Station 15 – Ernest Jones Road and Mt. Pisgah Church Road.

See related blog posting.

Durham Highway

Station 2, which is collocated with Raleigh Station 23, has been determined as a needed station by ISO. The unmanned station (for DHFD) has always been recognized by OSFM, but has not been funded by the county in recent years for facility or equipment upgrades. An ISO inspection determined that the station and its apparatus are necessary, as no other county stations can serve a number of non-hydrant areas within six miles. Newer (DHFD) apparatus is being sought for the station, to replace the 1976 tanker and 1992 pumper housed there.

Garner

Need for fifth fire station identified in the Highway 401 corridor. Coming development plans include a town-annexed site near Buffaloe Lanes for a community of some 800 homes, and several multi-family projects underway near 401 and Ten-Ten, also inside town limits. GFD in conversations with town and developers regarding a planned fire station. Expected time frame of three to five years. They re hoping for a joint fire, police, and EMS facility.

Fuquay-Varina

  • Station 2 – Expansion completed last year. The $1 million project added 2,800 square-feet to the facility including a new bay section, for use by Wake County EMS. They also renovated 1,600 square-feet to add living quarters for new crew members, and update the kitchen. See this N&O story[*] from 2014 about the project.
    [*] Link now broken, http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/southwest-wake-news/article10322699.html
  • Station 4 – Need for fourth fire station identified, to the north of town. Believe they ve been looking for landing a while now.

Morrisville

The proposed budget for FY17 includes a station location study, that assess opportunities to maximize ISO credit and improve services to the citizens, with a goal of improving the Town s ISO rating from Class 3 to Class 1. The study will review where fire service demands impact the Town and correlate to fire response times, and will help Town Council continue its discussions related to placement of Fire Station 3. Currently the town s third fire station is co-located at Cary Fire Station 7 on Carpenter Fire Station Road.

Northwest Wake County

Both Stony Hill and Bay Leaf fire departments have long-identified a need for another fire station in the northwestern quadrant of the county, notably in the area of Highway 50 and Boyce [Bridge] Road. There are 625 county citizens living in 14.8 square miles of unincorporated area, and more than five miles from a county fire station. They occupy 247 homes, and there s more growth coming. (Farther out often means bigger lots, which often means bigger homes.)

The station would also serve the highly-traveled Highway 50 corridor, as well as heavily-used Falls Lake boat ramps and surrounding areas. SHFD and BLFD respond to calls in that area, along with Creedmoor and Redwood from the neighboring counties. Responses time are obviously longer on the Wake County side, ranging from 10 to 21 minutes. (Time of day and commuter traffic can have a particularly dramatic impact.)

Bay Leaf took the lead in documenting the need, and submitted same as part of the expansion requests the FY17 budget.

Raleigh

Several station expansion or replacements:

  • Station 1 and Admin – Station 1 (Dawson Street) and Dillon Building offices (Martin Street) to be consolidated into single facility, planned mid-rise structure near intersection of Dawson and Lenoir streets. Multi-year funding, beginning in FY17. Newly prioritized project. Read blog post about the budget.
  • Station 2 – Major renovation, including expanded apparatus bays with rear entrance added. Starting in September.
  • Station 3 – Relocating to corner of Rock Quarry Road and MLK Jr. Boulevard. Land acquisition still underway.
  • Station 5 – Extensive interior renovation underway. Completed by October. Blog posts: April 8, March 6.
  • Station 6 – Rebuilt at same location. Likely starting in spring of 2017. Blog posts: March 20, March 11, October 9.
  • Station 11 – Major renovation, including new apparatus bays. Design work expected to start in the FY17.
  • Station 12 – Relocating to Bus Way and Poole Road. Construction starting soon.
  • Station 14 – Relocating to corner of Harding Road and Nancy Anne Drive. Design phase underway.
  • Station 30 – New station near corner of Wake Forest Road and Ronald Drive. Land acquisition underway.

These projects have been covered in past issues of the Raleigh Fire Department Newsletter, as well as sundry blog postings, a number of which are linked above.

Where does the city foresee future station locations? Needs have been assessed north of Sta 4/Sta 15, between Sta 7/Sta 21 (infill), south of Sta 22 (infill), south of Sta 25 (infill), east of Sta 26, and east of Sta 27. See page 26 of the fire department s five-year strategic plan (PDF).

That document also lists the planned schedule for station renovations, with design and construction funding spread over two budget years: Sta 10/Sta 15 (FY17, FY18), Sta 8/Sta 16 (FY18, FY19), Sta 9/Sta 17 (FY19, FY20), Sta 18/Sta 19 (FY20, FY21), Sta 4/Sta 20 (FY21, FY22), Sta 21/Sta 22 (FY22, FY23).

Rolesville

They’ve identified a need for three (!) future fire stations, due to rapid growth in their municipal and rural areas. (In April, Realtor.com said Rolesville was the seventh fastest growing town in the nation!) The fire department s been working to procure property, with the town paying its share of the projects. They re trying to get sites while they can still purchase property at a reasonable price. Time frame for these is TBD.

Planned locations:

West side – 4124 Burlington Mill Road, at a three-acre site purchased in April. This station s needed to accommodate the growth that the town s been experiencing. The town s municipal limits on the west side is the north side of Forestville Road, with the town border extending north to the Wake Forest town limits, and south past Highway 401. There are new subdivisions in that area, and several hundred more homes are proposed.

North side – Toward Averette Road and Highway 96. This area s inside a watershed and will remain mostly county. Meaning, no annexation by any town. That also means large home on large lots. This station will provide service to property owners outside the five-mile distance from Station 1, and ensure they get a Class 4 protection rating for their insurance. This location would serve northeastern Wake County residents to the county line.

South side – South of the new 401 bypass, and to cover the area between Rolesville, Hopkins, and Wendell fire districts. If the planned Little River Reservoir is built to the east, this fire station will help with response times to areas cut off by the reservoir. The south side station will also help with response times south of the bypass, and put fire units closer to the county s largest high school. Like the north side areas, much of this area is also watershed.

One note about Rolesville FD, they just finished their ISO inspection, and are proud to announce that they received a Class 3 in the town limits, and a 4/9s in the rural district. They’re also the largest single-station fire department in the county, protecting 32.88 square miles with one fire station.

Stony Hill

See Northwest Wake County

Wake Forest

Station 4 completed recently at 1505 Jenkins Road, and staffed with full-time engine company.

Wendell

New station planned in Wendell Falls, $150,000 budgeted in FY17 for planning and design costs. Land to be purchased after July 1, 2016. Site will be on Taylor Road (not built yet), off Wendell Falls Boulevard.

Zebulon

Bought land for a second station on Green Pace Road, about ten years ago. Currently reevaluating their needs and plans for a future fire station.

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Remembering the Fire Station at Memorial Auditorium

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Did you know that Memorial Auditorium once contained a fire station? The performance hall that’s today called the Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts was dedicated in August 1932 as “War Memorial Auditorium.” It was named as it was a memorial to the solders that died in World War I, and replaced the earlier City Auditorium at Davie and Fayetteville streets, that was destroyed by fire on October 24, 1930.

As this NC Theater web site well-summarizes, the land for the new auditorium had a long history of public use. The city’s original Governor’s Palace was erected on the site in 1813 and occupied until April 1865, when seized by General Sherman during the Civil War. (As the story goes, it was declared no longer fit for habitation after the war ended.) In 1876, the building was sold to the city, and turned into Raleigh’s first public school. (And the second graded school in the state.)


Source: NC Theater web page

Memorial Auditorium cost about $310,000 to construct, and was considered the city’s largest expense since the Great Depression. It also included a fire station under the stage. The one-story, two-bay fire station faced Fayetteville Road. It originally housed Engine 2, which relocated from 412 S. Salisbury Street. (The old fire station was retained by the city and became a paint shop.)

The new fire station included separate dorm rooms for officers and firefighters. There was a “lounge” in the far back, a combination kitchen, dining room, and a day room. A maintenance shop was located in the rear of the apparatus bay. The floor plan also included bathrooms, an office, and a utility closet.

Click once or twice to enlarge:


Top right: North Carolina State archives photo; bottom left: Raleigh News & Observer

Continue reading ‘Remembering the Fire Station at Memorial Auditorium’ »

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Two Alarms on Pumpkin Ridge Way on Saturday

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Two alarms were struck in northeast Raleigh late Saturday afternoon, with two duplexes damaged after an accidental outdoor fire started. Engine 21 was dispatched 2420 Pumpkin Ridge Way at 5:21 p.m. for an outside fire. Within a minute it was upgraded with a structure fire response dispatched at 5:22 p.m. and adding E27, E11, E19, L2 (operating reserve Ladder 125), L8, R1, B1, B2, and Car 420 (Deputy Fire Marshal). While units were en route, it was upgraded to a working fire, with Air 1, Car 20 (Division Chief), and Car 401 (Investigator) dispatched at 5:26 p.m.

Engine 21 arrived at 5:28 p.m., with smoke and flames showing from the left side (Division B) and extending to the attic of a two-story, brick duplex with ~2000 square feet. Built 2001. The officer requested a second alarm almost immediately, as a second structure became involved, with siding catching fire and soon extending to the attic at 2424 Pumpkin Ridge Way. That’s a two-story, vinyl-sided duplex with ~2,8000 square feet. Built 2003.


Benjamin James Cirasole / WTVD photos

The second alarm was dispatched at 5:29 p.m. for E12, Sq7, E3, L5, L4, B5. The Assistant Chief of Operations, Car 2, also responded. Initial operations were interior attacks along with a “blitz nozzle” (portable monitor) outside in the front. Ladder 2 was positioned for master stream operations in Division B/C on Pumpkin Ridge Way, while Ladder 8 was readied in Division C, on the parallel street Blackwolf Run Lane. Evacuation tones were sounded at 5:43 p.m., crews were withdrawn from both structures, and both aerial streams began flowing.


Mike Legeros photos

Command was located on the south side of the intersection of Pumpkin Ridge and Linville Ridge Drive. Staged apparatus utilized Linville Ridge Drive and Bay Harbor Drive. At least two hydrants were tapped. Medical monitoring and rehab was conducted in driveways on Pumpkin Ridge, across the street from Division B/C. The fire was controlled at 6:44 p.m., and some second alarm companies were soon released.

The cause was determined as accidental, due to smoking materials, and presumably improperly discarded. Watch your butts! Three families were displaced, and Red Cross provided assistance. One pet was reportedly killed.


Mike Legeros photos

Fire response included E21, structure fire: E27, E11, E19, L2, L8, R1, B1, B2, C420; working fire: A1, C20, 401; second alarm: E12, Sq7, E3, L5, L4, B5. Also C2. Medical response: EMS 34 (first alarm), EMS 62, D9 (working fire), EMS 63, D6, M92, T1 (second alarm).

Early-incident photos by Benjamin James Cirasole were posted to this WTVD story. Legeros arrived about 5:47 p.m. See his photos.

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Old Fire Protection Systems at Old Hillsborough Mill

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See prior posting about the fire.

On Friday, May 20, a historic mill building burned in Hillsborough. Eight fire departments battled the late afternoon blaze. The “weaving room” was destroyed on the former site of Bellevue Manufacturing Company, an industrial property built beginning in the 1900s-1920s. It was last occupied in 2000.

The site was originally equipped with its own water supply and fire hydrants. The town didn’t have one, so the factory furnished its own. This was common at industrial as well as institutional sites (schools, hospitals, prisons) back in the day.

Crews on Friday or later visitors to the scene likely noticed such features as old hydrants, old hose cabinets, and old post-indicator valves:

Poke around the entire property and you’ll see numerous fire protection features. Photographed these in February, when Mrs. Blogger and myself had dinner at the nearby barbecue joint:

Here’s a wider view showing the hose reel in the center, and another post-indicator valve in center left:

These 1924 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map excerpts (with annotations) reveal more detailed information about the buildings and their fire systems.

Click once or twice to enlarge:

2016-05-27-mill-map2a2016-05-27-mill-map3a

For more information:

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Durham City, County – Proposed Budgets for FY17

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Here are the notable fire and EMS items in the recently announced budgets for the City of Durham and Durham County.

Durham City

– Add two fire inspector positions
– Completion of construction of replacement Fire Station 9
– Planning for 30 firefighters in FY18, to staff new Station 17 (Leesville Road)
– Planning for 15 firefighters in FY21, to staff new Station 18 (Herndon Road and Stinhurst Drive area.

More budget information.

Durham County

Fire:

– Add day-duty Division Chief position
– Add six firefighter positions

EMS:

– Five new full-time employees, for peak-time ambulance deployment shift
– Five Sprinter EMS ambulances, four new, one replacement
– One new bariatric ambulance
– Three large SUVs, two new, one replacement
– One new one-ton 4×4 truck.

More budget information (PDF).

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Cary’s Proposed Budget and a Bunch of Planned Fire Stations

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The Town of Cary the other week announced their proposed budget for FY17. Notable items for the fire department are:

  • Fire Station 9 on Walnut Street
  • New ladder company with thirteen positions for northwest side of town (probably Station 7)
  • New ladder truck, for above new company
  • Replacement pumper.

Recall this recent Cary News story[*]  about Cary’s plans for Station 9 and Station 10, which tells more about project. Also, Engine 9 is already in service, operating from old Station 2 on Maynard Road. Read prior blog posting. 

[*] Link now broken, http://www.newsobserver.com/news/local/community/cary-news/article70710862.html

Land for Station 10 has already been purchased at 2495 O’Kelly Chapel Road, in Chatham County. From the budget document (under Capital Improvements), funding for the project is planned for FY20 ($750K) and FY21 ($7M).

And Five More Future Locations

The budget documents also lists locations for five (!) more future locations, however they’re all planned for funding between FY22 and FY27:

  • Station 11 – White Oak Church Road
  • Station 12 – West Lake/Middle Creek
  • Station 13 – Lewter Shop Road at Highway 751
  • Station 14 – Pleasant Grove Church Road at the airport.
  • Station 15 – Ernest Jones Road and Mt. Pisgah Church Road.

Side note: Funding for Station 11 land is already approved. Land acquisition is underway. Land for Station 12 is already owned by the town, it’s part of the Middle Creek school and park property off Optimist Farm Road.

These are far-future forecasts, so be careful. They’re five to ten years forward, which means many things can change. The planned locations may move, the priorities for building one ahead of the other may shift, etc. But it’s a good peek into station planning and how the Cary Fire Department is keeping ahead of expected service demand.

Side note: Planning documents are just that. Back in the day, Raleigh anticipated growth on Highway 401, south of Highway 70. But the city never grew in that direction. More recently, Raleigh’s next fire station was expected further east on Buffaloe Road. But needs have placed planned Station 30 as an infill station, instead, in north Raleigh.

Here’s a map that plots those locations along with current stations. What other municipal and county fire station changes will we see, over the next ten years? To be continued!

Meanwhile, let’s get our map[s] on. Click once or twice to enlarge:

2015-05-26-cfda

2016-05-26-cfd-map2a

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Historic Mill Building Burns in Hillsborough – Recap, Run Card, etc.

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Updates: See later posting about site – See site photos from February – Video clip added:

View on YouTube

Apologies for belated posting!

Fire destroyed a portion of a historic mill building in Hillsborough on Friday evening. Orange Rural Fire Department, which protects the town, was dispatched along with mutual aid at 4:54 p.m. Location of 202 S. Nash Street, the former Bellevue Manufacturing Company textile mill. Arriving units found the northernmost section of four buildings showing heavy fire through the roof. Aerial streams, deck guns, portable monitors, and hand lines were deployed.


Top to bottom, left to right: FireNews.net photo (x2), WTVD photo, Town of Hillsborough photo

ORFD Ladder 1 (which is town-owned and thus lettered Hillsborough Fire Department) was deployed on Nash Street, and then relocated to a rear parking lot. Mebane Platform 38 was backed against the Nash Side of the building adjoining the burn building. (Was told it’s the first fire for the recently delivered KME mid-mount platform.) There was also a Chapel Hill ladder on scene, but it wasn’t deployed. A company of firefighters (Tower 73) responded with a reserve quint, a 2001 HME rear-mount short stick.

Portable monitors were deployed on the north side of the building, from an elevated ground position at roof-level, and from the west side of the structure, on the northwest corner. Exposure protection was also paramount, due to occupied commercial structures on the south end of the block (past the mill buildings) and residential structures (and a historic mill house) directly to the north. The inward collapse of the fire building’s roof aided this effort. The roof collapsed at about 5:25 p.m.


Mike Legeros photos

Crews also attacked the blaze from inside the adjoining structure, a three-story section of the mill building. Both it and the burn building were unoccupied. The mill buildings were last occupied by a fabric company, which closed its operations there in September 2000. The buildings were planned for development into apartments. The mill is both a local and national historic landmark. Its buildings date from turn of the 20th Century and the early 1920s.


Mike Legeros photos

The destroyed structure was a 30,000 square-wood weaving room addition that was erected in 1920. Here’s a page of history [link expired: http://freepages.history.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~orangecountync/places/cotton_mills/bvue.html] about the mill, and includes this diagram showing the sections of the building and their ages:

Eight fire departments were on scene: ORFD, Efland, Eno, New Hope, Orange Grove, Cedar Grove, Mebane, and Chapel Hill. How many firefighters? Good question! As many as a half-dozen hydrants were utilized, and included a special call to the town water plant, to boost pressure as needed. The fire was contained at 7:20 p.m. on Friday evening. All companies but a single ORFD crew were released about 10:30 p.m.

Crews continued working on Saturday, extinguishing hot spots and a large flare-up. The latter included a collapse of the building’s north wall against an embankment. Firefighters were working nearby, on a nearby hill. They were a safe distance from the structure, and weren’t affected. See the town’s press releases for ongoing details.

Readers can add additional information.

Run Card

  • Orange Rural – E231, E232, E233, L271, Squad 261, Tanker 241
  • Efland E132, E133, Tanker 143
  • Eno E331, Tanker 341
  • New Hope E431, Squad 461

Second alarm:

  • Orange Grove E533, Tanker 541
  • Cedar Grove Tanker 642, Tanker 643
  • Mebane Platform 38
  • Chapel Hill Reserve Ladder 73

Move ups:

  • White Cross to Orange Rural
  • Haw River to Efland
  • Prospect Hill to Cedar Grove
  • Durham County E85 to New Hope

EMS:

  • Medic 6, Medic 5
  • EMS 10
  • South Orange Rescue for rehab

Move ups:

Person County Medic 2 to Orange EMS, staged at US 70 and NC 86.

Stories and Pictures

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Vehicles vs. Buildings, Vehicles vs. Trains

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From the news files this week:

  • Thursday – Versus apartment building – Fox Ridge Manor Road, Raleigh – WRAL story
  • Thursday – Versus house – Lake Grove Boulevard, Cary – No injuries – WTVD story
  • Thursday – Versus freight train – S. Salem Street, Apex – Minor injuries – WTVD story
  • Sunday – Versus passenger train – Auburn-Knightdale Road, Garner – Minor injuries – WTVD story – Legeros photo

Wonder what one’s we missed, that weren’t covered by the news!?

Sunday’s story is particularly interesting, as the same driver had a collision at the same rail crossing two weeks earlier. She narrowly avoided being struck another train, but collided with a tree, which caused the front-end damage seen in the photo below.

Drive safety, folks.


WRAL, WTVD, WTVD, Legeros photos

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Vintage Photo of Foscoe Fire Department

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From their Facebook page, here’s a vintage photo of the Foscoe Fire Department in Watagua County. They were organized in 1971 and their first fire station was this one-story block ‘n’ brick building at 8599 Highway 105 South.

Twenty years later, they moved to a new fire station at 9230 Highway 105 South. In recent years, they opened a second fire station, at 120 Lance Trail in 2008. Learn more about FFD on their web site.

The original fire station building is still standing. It’s used as an antique store, and was photographed by Mr. Blogger in 2006 during a long weekend in October. There’s a larger two-bay building beside this one, and with an A-frame roof. Thinking it was probably either an expansion or replacement structure built by the fire department. Readers may know.


Mike Legeros photo

Google Street View photo

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