RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) People driving past the McLaurin parking lot at 11 South East Street on Saturday saw a solemn group gathered there. Firefighters, elected officials and history buffs heard Lift Every Voice and Sing at the start of a Black History Month Celebration that honored African American public safety pioneers.
Earl Ijames, a curator with the North Carolina Museum of History spoke during the ceremony. He explained to ABC11: The Victor Fire Company organized here in Raleigh. All Black, formerly enslaved people. Got their name because they were first in one of the early firefighter competitions that was held here in Raleigh for all firefighters in the state, Black and white.
The Department of North Carolina Veterans of Foreign Wars honored nine Raleigh firefighters Monday with lifesaving awards.
The first responders rescued two brothers after a tornado tore through Bertie County in August.
The brothers were trapped inside their mobile home after gusts from a strong tornado flipped it several times.
Two people were killed when the EF-3 twister destroyed a neighborhood in Windsor.
Nine Raleigh firefighters were honored for rescuing two brothers trapped inside a mobile home during a tornado stemming from Hurricane Isaias in August.