Wake County Created in 1771 Making History with the Garner Fire - - PDF document

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Making History with the Garner Fire Department

Presentation by Mike Legeros

Wake County Created in 1771 1792 – Raleigh Map 1802 – Raleigh Newspaper Ad Pattern of Fire Protection

• Building codes / fire laws
• Bell / signal to summon
• Buckets, ladders, etc.
• Wells as water supplies
• Purchase of fire equipment
• Formation of fire company
• Installation of water system
• Installation of alarm boxes

1800s – Raleigh Fire Protection

1819 – First fire engine delivered 1819 – First fire company formed 1851 – Construction of fire cisterns ordered 1852 – Salaried fire chief appointed 1853 – First provisions for storing fire equipment 1870 – Steam fire engine delivered 1879 – Chemical fire engine delivered 1886 – First fire hydrants installed 1887 – Electric telegraph fire alarm system installed

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1900 – Raleigh Fire Department

• 4 volunteer fire companies
• 87 firefighters, plus Chief and Asst Chief
• 127 public fire hydrants
• 15 private fire hydrants
• 30 alarm boxes

1900 – Raleigh Fire Department

Walter Woollcott, Assistant Chief Assistant

• L. A. Mahler, Fire Chief

Chief

• three 2 horse hose wagons, each carrying 1000' of rubber-lined cotton hose
• one hook and ladder truck
• eight horses
• one Gould steamer in reserve

Equipment 26 25 13 23 Members

• W. H. Palmer
• E. B. Bain
• R. G. Upchurch
• F. Brenig

Assistant Sylvester Dunston John R. Ferrall

• W. W. Parrish
• R. E. Lumsden

Foreman Victor Hose No. 2 Capital Hose No. 3 Hook and Ladder

• No. 1

Rescue No. 1 Company

1900s Fire Apparatus 1906 Horse-Drawn Steamer 1920s Motorized Pumper October 8, 1926

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Great Fires in the City

• November 29, 1901 – Watagua Building, A&M College
• October 29, 1905 – Dormitory, Catholic Orphanage
• April 24, 1913 – News & Observer building
• March 25, 1914 – Tompkins Hall, A&M College
• November 6, 1915 – Several buildings on W. Martin Street
• April 22, 1921 – Pullen Memorial Baptist Church
• April 10, 1926 – Insane Asylum
• July 3, 1928 – Yarborough Hotel

Great Fires in the County

• February 25, 1908 – Largest building in Cary
• June 13, 1911 – Downtown Apex, nine buildings
• June 1916 – Downtown Fuquay Springs, three stores and

warehouse

• February 6, 1913 – Downtown Rolesville, ten buildings
• December 10, 1925 – Downtown Wendell, third of business

district

• April 22, 1927 – Downtown Wake Forest, two cafes and

movie theater

• November 14, 1928 – Wakelon High School in Zebulon

Wake County Fire Departments

Wake Forest, 1921 Zebulon, by 1921 Wendell, by 1925 Cary, 1922 Apex, 1927 Fuquay Springs, by 1938

Wake County Fire Departments Wake County Fire Departments Zebulon, 1923

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Wendell, 1925 Wake Forest, 1926 Apex, 1928 September 29, 1928 September 29, 1928 May 10, 1944

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December 28, 1946 February 7, 1940 1950s – Rural Fire Departments 1950s – Rural Fire Departments 1950s – Rural Fire Departments

1956 – Wake Forest 1956 – Wake New Hope 1957 – Wendell 1957 – Western Blvd. 1958 – Rolesville 1958 – Stony Hill 1952 – Apex 1952 – Garner 1953 – Zebulon 1954 – Fuquay-Varina 1954 – Knightdale 1955 – Morrisville 1956 – Six Forks Rd.

Who Were These Volunteers?

Six Forks Road members in 1958 included

• florist
• mail carrier
• heating contractor
• two mechanics
• Civil Defense official
• several State workers
• grocer
• barber
• detective
• telephone man
• lawyer
• school teacher

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1960s – Rural Fire Departments Rural Fire Departments Garner Fire Department Organized 1952 First Firemen 1952 – First Fire Truck 1952 – First Fire Truck

Bought from Durham, N.C. Sold to Harrells, N.C.

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John Kelly’s Garage 1952 – Second Fire Truck 1953 – First firehouse 1953 – First Firehouse 110 Pearl Street

July 24, 1955 – Jones Supermarket July 28, 1956 – Edenton Street Baptist Church

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September 3, 1956 – First Firemen’s Day

1957 Fundraising Letter 1957 Fundraising Letter 1957-58 – Newer Apparatus

1957 Chevrolet / American LaFrance pumper, 750 GPM, 600 gallons, owned by fire department 1958 Ford / American LaFrance pumper, 500 GPM, 300 gallons, owned by Town

Fire Calls

• 1957 - 50
• 1958 - 48
• 1959 - 134
• 1960 - 103
• 1961 - 132
• 1962 - 129

1961 – Annual Report

• total of 132 fire calls answered
• total of 33 volunteer firefighters
• average of $50 of each firefighter's own funds "in
• rder to belong to the department"
• average of 100 hours of each firefighter's time

devoted to fire department, not including time spent "in actual firefighting"

• total of 36 hours spent in drills by firefighters
• monthly amount of $100 contributed by County
• fire department telephone number is VAnce 9-3459

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1960s Donation Envelope 1962 – Emergency Power Unit January 31, 1966 1967 Roster 1967 Roster 1970 – New Station 1

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Fire Station Locations Fire Calls

• 1970, 244
• 1971, 247
• 1972, 206
• 1973, 210

April 18, 1974 – Town Hall Burns

1976 – Station 2 Opens 1978 – Apparatus Roster 1988-89 Changes

1988 – Fire department begins accepting Wake County tax money 1988 – First paid Fire Chief hired 1988 – Administrative Assistant hired 1989 – Four additional paid personnel hired: Captain, Lieutenant, and two firefighters

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1990s – Newer Apparatus April 7, 1993 1999 – Station 3 Opens 2001 – Aerial Platform Garner Fire Department Today

• 3 stations
• 14 pieces of apparatus, 4 support vehicles
• 65 members, including 26 career firefighters
• 3,500 calls answered annually
• protecting over 20,000 people

Any questions?

For more information on the history of firefighting in Wake County, visit www.legeros.com