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Dr Kristine Klugman, Deputy President of the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW, 1984 [Museum of Fire Collection] When Dr Kristine Klugman was appointed Deputy President of the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW in 1982, she became the first woman to take on a senior leadership role in the then 98-year-old organisation. Her appointment not only made history—it also set in motion a chain of reforms that would ultimately lead to the inclusion of women in active firefighting rol

Helmets have always been an ideal form of protection used across many different industries from war to construction, and most importantly to us, for firefighting. Helmets that were designed for the purposes of firefighting appear to have become a common aspect of uniform from the 1820s. During this time, two distinct approaches took place with helmets, the first being the American style and the second being the European or UK style. The stereotypical firefighter helmet design

Command vehicles, also known as Fire Control vehicles or Incident Command vehicles, serve a unique purpose within the fleet of firefighting appliances. Command vehicles have not always been a staple however, as the concept was only truly introduced 1972 as the NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB; now Fire and Rescue NSW, FRNSW) began exploring the opportunities and possibilities of what a Command vehicle might look like. Originally the concept envisioned by the brigade involved the usag

The Museum of Fire is an iconic staple of the Penrith landscape and that is mostly due to the wonderful building that we are housed in today. The large grey building that we call home was once upon a time Penrith Power Station and has an intriguing history of its own, so let’s take a look at what is so special about our building! Firstly, lets step back in time and make it clear as to when the Museum of Fire got involved. We come into the picture in 1985, where after the buil