On a Monday morning in late December 1998, Raleigh firefighters faced a blaze that gripped the Quail Corners Shopping Center, as smoke billowed from the 5003 Falls of Neuse Road complex. It was a significant event, one that summoned a multi-alarm response from the Raleigh Fire Department. The Raleigh Professional Fire Fighters Association recounts the incident, noting the first units were dispatched at 10:25 a.m., with Engine 15 leading the charge.
As firefighters worked tirelessly, the fire quickly escalated, punching through the roofing material, necessitating additional alarms and resources, including Raleigh’s first mobile air unit, an extended panel van named SR5. Despite the blaze taking two hours to control, Assistant Fire Chief Earl Fowler said, “it started in the second-floor storage area of Eckerd Drugs.” Full of recently delivered holiday items, the room quickly became an inferno. Although parts of the roof caved in around them, firewalls between stores were the day’s unsung hero, curbing the fire’s spread. Directly affected by the smoke seeping into compartments, several stores were indirectly scarred by the event, as per the Raleigh Professional Fire Fighters Association.
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