On March 1, 1951, the city of Winston-Salem hired and formed the city’s and the state’s first integrated Fire Company housed at Engine Company #4 on Dunleith Avenue. Lester Ervin was one of the original eight firefighters hired. Four thousand dollars was allotted for the care and maintenance of the Dunleith Avenue Fire Station, and it was turned into a company comprised completely of African-American fire fighters. On July 21st 1980 Lester E. Ervin was promoted to Fire Chief making him the first Black American Fire Chief in the State. During the 1980s, Fire Station #4 was relocated from Dunleith Avenue to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. Chief Ervin retired in 1989 with thirty-eight years of service to his name. The station was later renamed the Lester E. Ervin Fire Station in the honor of the past chief.
Other Black American Chiefs
Otis Cooper Jr. 1993 – 1998
Otis Cooper joined the Department on October 10, 1977. His first assignment as a fire fighter was to Engine Company Nine on June 23, 1980. Cooper was promoted to Fire Engineer on July 5, 1982, and then to Fire Platoon Supervisor on March 12, 1984. The position of District Fire Chief followed on April 9, 1990 and then Fire Chief on November 29, 1993. During his time as Fire Chief for the Department, Cooper attempted to revive the Emergency Medical Program. However, a general lack of support caused the plan to fall through. After resigning from his position as Fire Chief on June 15, 1998, Otis Cooper assumed the role of Fire Chief of the Durham, North Carolina Fire Department, where he still serves today.
John W. Gist joined the Fire Department on October 10, 1977 and was promoted to Fire Chief on June 15, 1998. His first assignment as a fire fighter was to Engine Company Number Five on May 1, 1978. Gist was promoted to the position of Engineer on April 26, 1982, Captain on March 12, 1984, Battalion Chief on July 15, 1985, District Chief on April 9, 1990, and Deputy Chief on November 29, 1993. After only two years of service as Chief of the Department, John Gist has revived the EMS program, making every Engine Company in the city able to respond in the capacity of EMTs. He was also been instrumental in reshaping and restructuring the department, obtaining pay increases for personnel, and offering educational opportunities to all members of the WSFD. He retired in 2008.
An organization of African-American Firefighters was formed in 1888 or 1889 called “North Carolina Colored Volunteer Firemen’s Association.” This group supported the efforts of similar firefighters throughout the state. The reports are slim as to the names and the persons involved in these early companies. The best accounts as to the names of these early pioneers groups:
- Winston Red Hot Hose Reel Company
- Slater Hose Reel Company
- Columbia Heights Hose Reel Company
- Winston Colored Hook and Ladder
The exact date that these companies dissolved is unknown but they disappeared from records sometime between 1913 and 1923.