Forty years ago, a massive downtown blaze pushed the Greensboro Fire Department to the limits – leaving behind one of the most significant firefighting chapters in the city’s modern history.
On April 13, 1985, a three-alarm fire tore through the 300 block of Davie Street in downtown Greensboro, consuming an entire city block and severely damaging several nearby buildings as well.
More than four decades later, that night is being remembered through a new documentary project led by a firefighter who was there when it happened.
According to the Greensboro Fire Department, the Davie Street fire remains the largest fire the department has faced in modern times. More than 100 firefighters were called in as flames spread quickly through multiple buildings. Crews encountered especially dangerous conditions, including a backdraft and a wall collapse, events that could have easily turned deadly.
It took more than four hours to bring the fire under control.
Despite the intensity of the blaze and the hazards faced by firefighters inside and outside the buildings, no firefighters were seriously injured or killed that night – a fact that still stands out when veterans of the department reflect on the incident.
The 40th anniversary of the fire has prompted renewed attention to the event, thanks in large part to retired Greensboro Fire Department Assistant Chief Chris Bowman. Bowman, who was a young firefighter at the time, has spent the past year working to preserve the memory of the fire and the lessons learned from it.
The Davie Street fire was Bowman’s first major firefight after joining the department – an experience that left a lasting impression on him and many others who responded. As the anniversary approached, Bowman decided the story deserved to be documented in a way that went beyond a brief mention in the department’s history.
With help from Deputy Chief Carol Key and several retired firefighters who battled the blaze alongside him, Bowman produced a 20-minute documentary that chronicles the events of that night. The video draws on original radio traffic recordings, firsthand interviews and archival photographs, some of which originally appeared in the Greensboro News & Record.
The result is a detailed, ground-level look at how the fire unfolded and how firefighters worked through rapidly changing and dangerous conditions.
The documentary doesn’t rely on reenactments or dramatization. Instead, it lets the voices and images from the time tell the story – offering viewers a sense of the urgency and uncertainty firefighters faced as the situation escalated.
In the video, radio transmissions capture commanders calling for additional alarms and crews reporting conditions from inside the burning structures, while interviews provide context from those who were there.
The documentary can be viewed here: https://gffhs.org/davie-street-fire.
The Davie Street area in the mid-1980s was a mix of older commercial buildings, some of which presented significant fire-load challenges. Fires involving multiple connected structures were especially difficult to contain, and the collapse of a wall during the incident underscored the structural dangers that the firefighters encountered that night.
According to the historical accounts preserved by the Greensboro Firefighter Historical Society, the fire tested command decisions, communication and coordination across the department.
Over the years, the Davie Street fire has often been cited within the department as a turning point that reinforced the importance of training, situational awareness and respect for older building construction.
Firefighting technology and tactics have evolved a great deal since 1985, but the basic lessons from the huge fire that night continue to be relevant, especially when crews are dealing with large commercial fires and the risk of collapse.
The Greensboro Firefighter Historical Society has played a key role in preserving the memory of the fire as well as other major moments in the department’s history. The society’s website now hosts Bowman’s completed documentary, along with additional background information about the fire and the firefighters who responded.
That site serves as an archive for both the department and the broader community.
For longtime Greensboro residents, the fire remains a vivid memory of a night when downtown was completely lit up by flames and sirens echoed for hours.
According to Fire Department officials, the department’s decision to highlight the anniversary publicly reflects a broader effort to honor past service while also, at the same time, educating the public about the realities of firefighting.
