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As Fire and Rescue NSW’s (FRNSW) official heritage partner, the Museum of Fire is often approached to assist in uncovering the origins and ownership of items housed within FRNSW stations. The final heritage reports produced in response to these enquiries complement our regular heritage work of writing brigade or station-specific histories. Today we would like to share the heart-warming story which saw Orange Fire Brigade’s billiard table rehomed to a local charity following c

The first thing visitors to the Fire and Rescue NSW Emergency Services Academy at Orchard Hills see upon arrival is a Garford Hale Type 15 Pumper. This isn't just any ordinary fire engine though and to answer your questions about the history behind the vehicle we've put together this blog. The appliance has a significant past as it was assigned to Station No. 205 Armidale in 1926 and used by the Brigade at the devastating F. Braund Store fire of 1933. In response to the valia

The Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus ‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire’ may just be a mere adage to most, but the danger of smoke poses a far more sinister threat for firefighters. The modern day Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) bears little resemblance to early experimental SCBA prototypes of the late 19th century. While there are some early historical accounts of firefighters breathing through wet beards to combat the threat of smoke inhalation, the earliest re

In preparation for World Post Day this Friday, we explored the Museum’s photograph and document archives to uncover a range of material with post-related stories! One photograph that particularly stood out to us showed the Museum’s temporary post office at its former location in Walsh Bay (back when it was known as the NSW Fire Service Museum). From 12-18 January in 1983 a temporary post office was established at the Museum to mark the release of the Historic Fire Engines sta

Whilst the closed No. 1 Volunteer Company Fire Station in Haymarket is the oldest surviving purpose-built fire station, some of Sydney’s early stations remain operational. This blog will look at the oldest active fire stations and the brigades that continue to operate out of them. These buildings are all located in Sydney and include City of Sydney (1888), Balmain (1894), Lidcombe (1899) and Ashfield (1901). Join us at 2pm today for a look at the #5 oldest active station in N

History Week continues at the Museum this week and into the weekend. If you haven't already checked out what is on offer then please visit our website https://www.museumoffire.net/history-week-2020 In the meantime we thought we'd share the story behind the most recent addition to our collection. Thomas James Bown (1810-1872) served as a firefighter in London before arriving in Sydney in 1842, where he became the Colony’s first “professional” firefighter. He was handpicked a

Remotely piloted aircraft systems (RPAS), commonly known as drones, are not often associated with the Fire Brigade however they serve an important function for firefighting and rescue services, providing integral information which assists in the prevention, preparation, and recovery phases of field operations. They may also be used following major incidents such as bushfires or floods to provide real-time data for pre-incident planning and to assess damages. As a modern piece

Welcome to the first post in our new Curator’s Blog series! As a curator I oversee the display and care of the Museum’s collections, including the library and archive as well as the objects. Each day is different, but my role (usually) involves researching and processing donations, improving collection documentation, and producing information for display. Today I will be introducing a recent donation that piqued my interest, the USA-made Western Electric wall telephone from H