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Fort Bragg and Pope Army Airfield Fire Departments - Research Notes

Created December 2014
Last updated April 11, 2020

Part I - Fort Bragg

Contents

Fire Apparatus

Apparatus operated during World War I included the following. Source: TH

Apparatus operated during World War II included the following: Source: TH

Modern apparatus includes the following. Source: PB

National Board of Fire Underwriters report on Fayetteville in 1953 noted "[They have] a full paid department under the direction of Chief Park L. Vickery. One Ford-LaFrance utility truck and four 1942 American LaFrance 750-gallon pumpers are in service in three stations. All apparatus and chiefs cars are radio equipped."

Fire Station Locations

Current:

Station Building Address Built Opened Coordinates Notes
Sta 1 6-9572 1556 Knox Street 1954 1954 35.140835, -78.980269  
Sta 2 / Simmons Army Airfield P-2539 1003 Parham Blvd. 1957 1957 35.133435, -78.939804  
Sta 3 B-700 Longstreet Rd at Manhay Rd 2004 2004 35.148511, -79.009925  
Sta 4 / Mackall AAF T-276 Glider Road 1983 1983 35.030627, -79.504661  
Sta 5 E-367 1309 Canopy Lane Bldg 1989 1989 35.117611, -79.013703  
Sta 6 / Linden Oaks L-3602 Camel Road, west of Linden Oaks Parkway 2011 2011 35.260447, -79.049965  
Sta 7 / Pope Army Airfield R-025 265 Boxcar Street 1956 1956 35.171113, -79.009860  
Sta 8 O-9007 King, Manchester, and Morganton roads, SE corner 1937 2015   Old Ranger Station 2, sole remaining ranger station at Fort Bragg. Adjacent to Present Stage Field. 
Sta 9 (planned)           Planned as additional structural station to be located at Camp Mackall. To be located adjacent to the Rowe Camp.
Sta 10 (planned)           Planned for 108 ADA complex built at old Ammo Supply Point on Chicken Road
Headquarters 2-5935 Butner Road        
Inspections / Logistics R-025 Boxcar Street, Pope Airfield        
Training Facility   1459 Hurst Drive     35.159833, -79.015704  

Former fire stations:

Station Address Built Opened Closed Notes
Sta 1 Present site of main parade grounds 1919? 1919 By 1975 First fire station building. Two-bay single-story. Site was located where Throckmorton library is located today.
  Normandy and Sicily roads, NW corner WWII WWII By 1975 Wooden structure. AAFES Shoppette later housed in building before demolition.
  Woodruff Street, south side between Reilly and Jackson, about one-third of the block east of Reilly WWII WWII By 1975 Wooden structure. Building was adjacent to "Mule barns." Army TMDE Calibration Lab later housed in building before demolition.
Sta 3 Butner Road and Durham Street 1941 1941 2004 Wooden structure. Three-bay, single-story. Demolished after new Station 3 opened in 2004.
  Honeycutt Road and Black Jack Street, NE corner WWII WWII By 1975 Wooden structure. Later part of Motor Pool. Building demolished as live burn for training.
Camp MacKall Glider Road and unnamed road, SE corner WWII WWII   Wooden structure. Foundation still survives. Map coordinates: 35.037140, -79.475330
Pope Army Airfield Maynard and Reilly 1934 1934 1979, c. Expanded circa 1956. Became Medical Supply building. By 2015, used as Fort Bragg EMS substation. Listed on National Register of Historic Places as part of Pope AFB historic district.

See FDMaps.com page for current stations mapped.

Snapshot in 1975

From Structural Fire Protection/Prevention Consolidation Study for Fayetteville, NC Area, U.S. Army - November 1975

Existing Operations

Fort Bragg operates five fire companies at three station locations. The installation's fire risk is considered high because of its high-rise hospital, large commissary, mission-essential facilities, and high volume of air traffic.

Fire Station Number 1.

Fire Station Number 1 is the main structural fire station and has as two fire companies which operate two 750 pumpers and a standby 750 pumper used for maintenance rotation. Both active pumpers are manned with four firefighters. The station also houses the Central Communications Center which is operated by the firefighters on a 2-hour rotational shift basis. The center monitors the alarms, plus anti-intrusion and sprinkler systems. Four personnel spaces are allotted to this function. Station Number 1 also has an extinguisher repair shop which performs repairing and recharging services for the installation. The firefighters service approximately 3,500 extinguishers each month, and one personnel space is authorized for this function. The fire prevention inspectors are located at this station

SAAF Fire Station.

Simmons Army Airfield (SAAF) Fire Station has two cross-manned fire companies operating two P-4 vehicles and a standby 530 crash vehicle. One P-4 vehicle is manned with four firefighters and the second is manned with three firefighters. The SAAF fire Station is required to provide  both structural and crash protection: the P-4 vehicles an function for either requirement. SAAF has 38 buildings, a 5,000 foot (1524 m) runway, over 370 aircraft stationed, with an average of 700 takeoffs and landings every 24 hours.

Fire Station Number 3.

This temporary Fire Station has one cross-manned fire company to operate one 750 pumper, manned with four firefighters, and one 530 crash vehicle. This company provides structural protection to the east side of the post and standby support to Womack Army Hospital's Medi-vac and Gabriel Field's aerial demonstrations. In addition to the 11 firefighters required for one fire company, three firefighters have been recognized to augment the crash requirement. Master planning requirements call for this station to be relocated.

Camp MacKall.

Field troops stationed at Camp MacKall, located near the Fort Bragg reservation, provide local fire protection. Their training is provided by the Fort Bragg Fire Chief.

Ranger Stations.

Three isolated ranger stations on the Fort Bragg reservation are protected by mutual aid agreements to provide the first response. Ranger Station Number 1 is covered by the Raeford Fire Department, distance 18.2 miles (29.3 km); Ranger Station Number 2 is covered by the Southern Pine Fire Department, distance 21 miles (33.8 km); and Ranger Station Number 3 is covered by the Vass Fire Department, distance 11.6 miles (18.7 km).

Work Requirements

Firefighters.

The firefighters work a rotating, 24-hour shift, 7 days a week, performing 10 hours of productive work per day with 14 hours on standby. The firefighters work 72 hours per week and are required to receive four hours of proficiency training each week. They are responsible for daily maintenance of fire equipment, semi-annual tests of fire hoses, semi-annual maintenance and water flow tests of 1,440 fire hydrants, monthly service and/or repair of over 3,500 fire extinguishers, and updating of pre-plans for over 5,000 facilities. The firefighters augment the fire inspectors for the annual family housing inspection and for periodic checks of theaters, clubs, and other gathering places. They also augment the alarm maintenance personnel who fi test and inspect alarm and sprinkler systems.

Inspection.

Fire inspectors  duties include administering the fire prevention program and instructing installation personnel in the use of first aid and fire extinguishers. Inspection responsibility covers 20,253,905 sq ft (l,881,649 m2 ) of building space, which includes 4,212 family housing units (not counting the 150 units under construction), approximately 4 ,000,000 sq ft (372 ,000 m2) of open storage, and 184 range buildings. Since the 1974 manpower survey team interpreted the DA and FORSCOM policy as not recognizing fire protection inspectors for inspection of installations which have fire companies, only one such position has been allotted--for the inspection of Camp MacKall and 30 U.S. Army Reserve Center, which depend entirely on civilian fire protection. However, since fire chief assigns firefighters to perform alarm room and extinguisher repair duties, three additional spaces have been made available for fire inspectors in an attempt to meet the installations' inspection requirements. Specific inspection duties are listed below:

a. Approximately two-thirds of one fire inspector s time is required by the Inspector General teams (1,356 hours).

b. Fort Bragg's fire department inspects 30 U.S. Army Reserve Units and Camp MacKall annually, requiring approximately 170 hours of inspection and travel time.

c. All family housing units are inspected annually and newcomers are briefed. The firefighters assist with the family housing inspections.

d. The administrative buildings, warehouses, service buildings, troop housing, hospital complex, outside storage, and recreation buildings require quarterly inspection. Food service facilities such as clubs, post exchanges, and bowling alleys require weekly inspection. These inspection requirements total over 14,000 hours for just the quarterly and weekly inspections. Since the fire department has only four inspectors, all the requirements cannot be satisfied. See Table 1.

Alarm Maintenance. The alarm maintenance section, which repairs and maintains the fire alarm and anti-intrusion systems, has two personnel assigned to the Fire Chief from the DFAE Interior Electrical Systems Maintenance Section. This section is also supported by firefighter labor.

Extinguisher Repair. As mentioned earlier, 3,500 extinguishers are repaired arid/or charged monthly. One fire extinguisher repairman is authorized for this duty; however, the firefighters rotate the duty. This service is performed without charge, except for the cost of the C02. Fort Bragg stores 10,000 gal (38 m3 ) of C0 2 to meet the requirements of both Bragg and Pope AFB.

Fire Company Responses

Fire Stations Number 1 and Number 3 respond to the main cantonment area; the SAAF Fire Station is responsible for the airfield, including all of the buildings. A small area in the southern section of Fort Bragg, consisting of warehousing, operational buildings, etc., is not within the required 2 miles (3.2 km} and 4 1/2 minutes from any fire station. Appendix A gives the DOD requirements for a fire company's response. Master planning requirements established by the Fort Bragg Planning Board call for relocating the temporary Fire Station Number 3 to a permanent location which will reduce the above deficiency. See Appendix 13 for a map of Fort Bragg and the response coverages attained from existing fire station locations. The overlap of coverage between Fort Bragg and rope AFB is shown in Appendix C.

Available Firefighting Resources, Fort Bragg

Personnel

Quantity

Description

Grade Level

1

Fire Chief

GS/11

3

Assistant Fire Chief

GS/9

1

Chief, Fire Prevention Inspector

GS/8

5

Station Captain

GS/7

7

Crew Chief

GS/6

3

Fire Prevention Inspector

GS/6

12

Firefighter (Driver-Operator)

GS/5

24

Firefighter

GS/4

5

Firefighter (Trainee)

GS/3

61

 

 

 

 

 

2

Communication Installer – Detailed from Interior Electrical Shop, DFAE

WG/11

Equipment

Photos

Sources

Related blog posts

Part II - Pope Army Airfield

Established 1919. First major expansion in 1930s. Based expanded during 1940s, as troop carrier training site, and with paratrooper training added at Fort Bragg. Activated as Air Force base on December 3, 1947. Deactivated on March 1, 2011, and absorbed into Fort Bragg and becoming Pope Field. The airfield is presently protected by Fort Bragg Emergency Services. The base fire station was renamed Fort Bragg Fire Station 7.

Apparatus

During World War II, apparatus included:

Later apparatus included:

Old Fire Station Building 300

Photo credit: National Register of Historic Places via Flickr page.

Photo credit: TBD

Photo credits: Legeros, top

One of the airfield's old fire station buildings is still standing at the corner of Maynard and Reilly streets. Built in 1934, it was expanded circa 1956. The fire station was closed circa 1979, when the building was converted to a medical supply and maintenance (Medical Logistics Supply) building. As of 2015, it's used as a substation for Fort Bragg EMS.

From oral histories and other information:

From the National Register of Historic Places nomination form:

"Bldg. 300, a one-story building at the corner of Maynard and Reilly Streets, originally functioned as a fire station and is now Medical Supply . It was completed in 1934 at a cost of $6,690. Exterior dimensions of this gable-roofed structure are 20.5 x 53.7 feet. According to as-built plans, it had a concrete and smooth-faced tile floor, hollow tile masonry walls, Spanish tile roof, painted stucco facade, and stone window sills. Circular, louvered vent openings occur in the gable ends of the roof. The original floor plan was designed to house two fire trucks, an apparatus room, office, closet, toilet, and heater/boiler room at the rear. The fire truck entered the station through two overhung, garage-type bays.

"The major modification to the plan and exterior of Bldg. 300 was the addition of an asbestos-sided wallboard building on the north side of the building ca. 1956 . This addition housed sleeping quarters and a lounge, toilet, and showers. Space in the original building was converted to a kitchen and an additional office. The heating system was also converted from steam boiler to oil at this time. Asphalt shingles replaced the roof tiles in 1958. 

"Major changes to the interior floor plan of Bldg. 300 were instituted ca. 1979, when the fire station was converted to its present use as a Medical supply and maintenance building. These changes do not appear to have affected the exterior facade, however. Under the use conversion, a medical warehouse was located in the former apparatus room, and a suspended ceiling was built in the warehouse area. Technical services were located in the old office and kitchen, and storage and mechanical space replaced the old boiler room. In addition, medical supply issue was located in the old sleeping quarters; administration was moved to the old lounge. A new vault, mechanical room, and security cages were built at the back of the warehouse, and new ventilation and fire protection systems were installed. Storm windows were added to the building in 1978."

Sources

 

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