In answering a false alarm from box No. 35, about 8:20 Saturday night, Chief A.L. Lancaster, chief of the Wilson Fire Department, collided with the U.S. Mail truck of the local post office, at the corner of Green and Goldsboro streets.
The occupants of the Chief’s car escaped without injury while Joe Harris, negro driver of the truck, was painfully bruised. The truck escaped with only minor injuries including a broken wheel. Chief Lancaster’s Buick was damaged considerably, besides a broken bumper, fenders, lights and radiator, the motor was torn from the frame and driven into the body, and the crank case shattered.
Chief Lancaster was trailing the fire trucks and was in intermediate gear when he collided with the mail truck, which was traveling east on Green street, according to witnesses. The accident was utterly unavoidable. the horn on the chief’s car was being sounded and the dim lights on the truck prohibited Chief Lancaster from seeing the approaching truck.
Saturday night’s alarm was the third false alarm to which the local company responded during the week and an effort is being made by the police department to check the number and catch the person or persons sounding the alarms. Anyone caught sounding a false alarm is subject to severe punishment if found guilty.
From the front page of the Wilson Times, April 15, 1924
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