Mystery American LaFrance Engine Paperwork Report

Click Here to read a report on mysterious paperwork for one of our American LaFrance engines.

Fire Truck Identification

Click here to view a report on fire truck identification.

AFD Apparatus Report 1911-1984

Click here to read an amazing report on AFD Apparatus.

Apparatus Roster

Click here for an amazing roster of AFD apparatus.

AFD American LaFrance Fire Trucks Report

Click here to view a report on AFD American LaFrance fire trucks.

Station 1 Personnel (Please Help Identify)

These are photos from Bill Duyck showing the beautiful original tile floor at Station 1, fire pole, ALF Pioneer, old tanker behind it in front of the former kitchen, and old uniforms with the All American City patch.

Old ALF open-cab ladder truck.

You can see the front of the old Jeep brush truck here.  Bill Duyck is second from right.  

This is Chief W.F. Hudson showing the inspection sticker on his Chief's car at Station 1.  Again, look at that tile floor, awesome.  Behind his car is the fire alarm system maintenance truck and beside his car is the old ticker-tape Gamewell system and flip cards. 

A Daily Routine

Asheville Citizen or Times. 

Holiday Exhibit

Asheville Citizen or Times. This is the old ALF engine AFD currently has at HQ. 

Anniversary Coming Up

Asheville Citizen 3-14-74

Asheville Citizen 3-14-74

Station 12

Station 12 was originally Haw Creek Fire Department founded in 1961.  It was a combination volunteer/paid county fire department that ceased operations and became AFD Station 12 on July 1st, 2009.  The building started out with three bays, then a bay was added to the left, then the two story addition added to the right, then finally an addition was added to the back of the bays. The only American LaFrance in AFD, Tanker 12, along with Brush 12 are stationed here and are former HCFD apparatus.   

These are images of the original Haw Creek Fire Department provided by Mr. Mulcahey. 

Station 9

The Oakley area was annexed at the same time as Beverly Hills on August 25th, 1959.  Again, because fire protection had to be provided within a year of annexation, the city leased a home on the corner of Fairview Rd and Liberty Streets and built a large garage to house the fire truck for Station 9.  The temporary station opened on June 6th, 1960 at 10:40 a.m. A twin truck to Engine 8 was purchased as shown in the Asheville Citizen article above.   

 Engine 9 moved into Station 5 in Biltmore Village while their temporary house was torn down and a new station built.  It opened on September 30th, 1967 at 10:10 a.m.  This article from the Asheville Citizen shows Chief R.L. Smith, O.J. Rankin, C.W. Burnette, and L.T. Gardin.  at the opening with AFD's first Ford and first enclosed-cab American LaFrance engine.

Station 8

The Beverly Hills area was annexed on August 25th, 1959.  It was necessary to provide fire protection within one year of annexation which left little time to build a fire station.  Because of this, a house was leased at Arco and Tunnel Roads and a large garage was built to house the fire truck for Station 8.  This temporary station went into service on June 6th, 1960 at 12:15p.m. The article above from the Asheville Times is the only known photo of the temporary station.  This article was made when the area's first non-private ambulance service started.

  

The new Station 8 opened up the road on February 28th, 1966 at 3:30 p.m.  An extensive remodel was done in 2001.  During this time, Ladder 8 was stationed at the VA Hospital during the day and would sleep in the under-construction station at night. Engine 8 was stationed at Haw Creek Volunteer Fire Department.  Included in the remodel: added onto the back of the station to move the dorm and create a weight room, removed locker room and made Captains' bunks, created a female locker room and bathroom, opened up kitchen and dayroom, created office space, and created an additional small bay. 

 

Station 7

Station 7 opened on September 11th, 1958.  This artist drawing is from Pack Memorial Library NC Special Collections. 

This image was taken during the grand opening celebration showing Station 7's first truck, a 1927 American LaFrance.  This truck is presently on display at HQ. Chief Fitzgerald is standing on the running board in the light suit.   

Station 6

Station 6 opened on December 7th, 1953 at 11:03 a.m.  The above image is from the station logbook showing the entry for the station opening.  These logbooks are incredibly important for historical entries such as this.  Each day, the on-duty officer would make entries into the logbook. 

This is an image of Station 6 showing it draped in black for the death of firefighter Raymond Flowers who died nearby fighting the West Asheville Baptist Church fire on May 26th, 1982.  You can also see the old fuel pump which most stations had back then.  Also showing are the cab-over Ford Ladder 6 and American LaFrance Pioneer Engine 6.  The construction of Station 6 started a new city council policy that fire station construction include a library and community center.  

A major remodel was done in 2009 and during this time, Engine 6 ran out of Station 3. 

Station 5

Station 5 first opened on August 29th, 1929.  Biltmore Village was created by George Vanderbilt and it had its own fire department.  At some point that fire department enclosed the porte cochere seen at the back of the 1895 Biltmore Estate office building above.  The City of Asheville annexed Biltmore Village in 1929 and moved into the old Biltmore FD station.  The bunk was upstairs with a large stainless steel fire pole just inside the back door. 

You can see the now enclosed porte cochere in this photo.  This American LaFrance Engine 4 was a tight squeeze.

 The fire truck bays were expanded to two bays during the Great Depression as a WPA project.  The above photo with the American LaFrance Engine 2 and crew shows part of the new bays.  Biltmore leased the first floor and used it for tickets sales to tour the estate.   

  This is the only known photo of the entire truck bays. It was provided by retired Captain Bruce Duckett who's father, Lt. Arthur W. Duckett, died of a heart attack at Station 5 on March 7th, 1966. A new Station 5 was built at Hendersonville and Caribou Roads opening on May 15th, 1976. The bays were torn down in the late 1970s.        

Station 4

Station 4 opened on August 15th, 1927.  It was designed by famed Art Deco architect Douglas Ellington.  A training tower was in the design and was a great asset for the fire department to train current and new recruits.  No training facility existed prior to Station 4's construction. Summer drills were started in 1930 and training was held here until the early 1970's when training was moved to the Buncombe County Firefighters Training Center which opened in 1967. Photo from NC State archives. 

Photo from NC State archives.

 Photo from NC State archives. 

Photo from NC State archives.   

Photo from NC State archives.   

Photo from NC State archives.

   Photo from NC State archives.   

   Photo from NC State archives. 

From December 1957.  The outside stairwell has since been removed.

Using Pompier Ladders to scale the outside of the building in December 1957.
 

This is known as a church raise.  It was a time-honored tradition in fire departments to raise a ladder straight up and trust your fellow firefighters to hold it up in the air with ropes while you climbed to the very top, locked your leg in the rungs, and leaned back.  This and the following photos are from Bill Duyck.

 This is the only photo showing the safety net that was installed for training.  It was a series of poles and ropes holding up the net.  In the parking lot of old Station 4 still seen today are capped pole holes and steel rings for the safety net. Photo from IAFF Local 332. 

This is a great article from the Asheville Citizen showing several drills for the tower.  See if you can find all four drills.  Clipping from Bruce Duckett.

Station 4 had an engine company and later added a ladder company. 

Station 4 closed in 1976.  It was used by the city street department until the Arson Task Force was created in 1982. A cellphone company has added a cell tower in the form of a flag pool to the top of the training tower and added an equipment room at its base. The station reopened as Station 14 on June 8th, 2009 at 8:43 a.m. using Squad 1 from Station 1 that became Squad 14 from 0800-1800, then went back to Squad 1 at Station 1 for the night . This went on until October 8th, 2009. The purpose was to gather response data for certain areas of Montford to see if a new fire station was needed in that area to cut down on response times.  The building was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

In 1988 the City of Asheville annexed into Skyland Volunteer Fire Department's district that included their main fire station. A fire protection agreement went into effect on July 1st and at that time, Station 4 was brought back at Skyland's original main station shown in the photo. Photo from Skyland FD.

This article from the Asheville Citizen-Times shows the terms of the original agreement that went into effect on July 1st, 1988.  The agreement has changed many times over the years. 

Engine 4 was first located at AFD Station 5, then brought down to the Skyland main station.
Photo from Skyland FD.  

  Photo from Skyland FD. 

Skyland from Skyland FD. 

This is the only fire engine that was jointly built by AFD and Skyland, hence the joint color scheme and dual door emblems.  Photo from Skyland FD. 

 On October 5th, 1997 Skyland FD held an open house for their new station which was built directly behind their original station.  Photo from Skyland FD. 

 This and the following photos show what was in the area where the new Skyland main station was built.  Photos from Skyland FD. 

Aerial images showing Skyland's old and new stations.  Photos from Skyland FD. 

AFD added two drive-through bays, space for the on-duty crew (though not completed), and offices for Asheville Police Department with a dedication in May 1999.  The old Skyland main station was then torn down.  Here the new KME Engine 4 breaks through the ribbon. Station 4 was very unique at the time with Skyland fire station 1, city station 4, city police sub-station, and a Buncombe County EMS unit all in the same building.  Buncombe County EMS has since moved out to the new Skyland Station 4.  Photo from AFD. 

Here is former AFD Chief John Rukavina. 

  Here is Chief Rukavina and City of Asheville Mayor Leni Sitnick.