Last week, Raleigh City Council approved via consent agenda the purchase of a site for relocating Fire Station 23. Pictured are excerpts from the meeting agenda packet. Source link is below.
The approximately 2.95-acre site is located at 9308 Fairbanks Drive, and the purchase price is $2.24M. The site is 0.2 road miles from current Fire Station 23 at 8312 Pinecrest Road. Tax records describe the property as having buildings used as a residence and a business.
In July 2025, council received the new RFD master plan, which identified acquiring land for priority facilities as a priority. In that plan, the relocation of Fire Station 23 was identified as a “priority 1.”
What are the programming plans for the relocated fire station? e.g., number of bays, number of stories, etc.? TBD.
Other Planned Stations?
What’s also in the hopper for planned Raleigh fire stations? Two are at the top of the list:
Relocation of Fire Station 1 to the corner of South Salisbury Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, $72M budget, in design phase.
Relocation of Fire Station 15 about a half block east on East Millbrook Road, $17M budget, ~18,000 square feet, two stories, three bays, similar design to Fire Station 22. City plans to bid the project in November.
Historical Perspective
Raleigh Fire Station 23 at 8312 Pinecrest Road opened February 15, 2000. Engine 23 was placed in service with a 1981 Mack CF pumper.
But the building had served as a “county fire station” since 1978. It was owned and now co-occupied by Durham Highway Fire Department, which leased the building to the city.
On October 1, 1976, DHFD acquired the site for a future fire station to expand their service beyond their original fire station on Davis Circle.
DHFD Station 2 on Pinecrest Road was completed in 1978. The 71 x 82 foot building was erected on a 0.69-acre lot. What was the exact date of its opening? Good question!
On March 6, 1978, the county board of commissioners adopted a resolution to request that the state department of transportation approve the paving of the new fire station’s apron. Side note, the location was cited as Secondary Road No. 1835 (Dillard Road).
On December 19, 1979, DHFD purchased the one-acre lot next door at 8308 Pinecrest Road. The adjoining lot added more ground space to the fire station site.
Davis Circle Closed, Norwood Road Opened
Around 1992, DHFD closed their Davis Drive station. By this time, DHFD had opened a third fire station at 11905 Norwood Road. Originally named Station 3, it was renamed Station 1 when the Davis Circle station was closed.
(The building on Davis Circle was later moved to behind the Norwood Road fire station, where it still serves as storage. That happened in either 1992 or 1993.)
In 2000, the City of Raleigh began leasing the Pinecrest Road fire station from DHFD and with a newly activated RFD engine company co-located with DHFD.
Fun fact, Engine 23 operated a quint from 2001 to 2004. It’s the only instance in RFD history where an engine was assigned a ladder truck.
In 2005, the Pinecrest Road fire station was expanded, with space added to the rear of the structure. The city-funded project added additional sleeping and living areas for RFD firefighters, and notably space added for a second fire company.
By that time, DHFD housed a pumper-tanker and a tanker at RFD Station 23 / DHFD Station 2.
Ladder Company Added
In 2006, an RFD ladder company was added at Station 23. It was moved to Station 24 in 2009 and back to Station 23 in 2020. (Believe those dates are correct, RFD peeps, check my work.)
Fun fact, for several years, RFD ladder companies were numbered sequentially instead of by station number. The ladder at Station 23 was named Ladder 6.
Station 23 also housed Battalion 4 from 2009 to 2019, and a mini-pumper from 2009 to [year needed].
Currently, Station 23 houses Engine 23, Ladder 23, and an unstaffed DHFD engine.
Sources
City council agenda packet – October 20, 2026
Legeros – DHFD history research notes
Legeros – RFD history timelines
Legeros – RFD history company histories
Wake County Real Estate Records