The nearest fire brigade was the Cape Fear Steam Fire Engine Company, formed in 1871 as the country’s first all-black steam engine company. The firefighters rushed with their horse-drawn tanker wagon, their fire bell clanging, up North Seventh Street toward the Record building. A white fire chief ordered W. T. “Tuck” Savage, a powerfully built white man with a reputation for brutality, to intercept the black crew. The firemen, alarmed by the size of the mob, halted two blocks from the fire.
