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Here at the Museum, we focus on local firefighting history, but did you know that floods are the most expensive type of natural disaster we face? The costliest summer for floods in Australia was 2010-11 across Lockyer Valley, Ipswich and Brisbane which cost 7.45 billion dollars! This week, we’re looking at the town of Narrabri, which due to its geography, is no stranger to a flood or two. Narrabri is located in the Northwest Slopes of New South Wales on Kamilaroi country, abo

*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate the opening of the new Lambton Fire Station at an event held in 2016. This book included the history of five stations. These were New Lambton, Lambton, Hamilton, Adamstown and Broadmeadow Fire Brigade's. Should you wish to use any of the information and pictures provided we ask that you please reference the Museum correctly and contact the Museum for permission whe

*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate the opening of the new Eden Fire Station at an event held in 2019. Should you wish to use any of the information and pictures provided we ask that you please reference the Museum correctly and contact the Museum for permission where applicable. The Establishment of a Fire Brigade in Eden In early 1968 the Chief Officer of the NSWFB recommended that the Fire Brigade

Here at the Museum of Fire our collection focus is on preserving the history of local firefighting history, specifically that of firefighting in NSW and across Australia. For that reason, we don’t often bring you stories from overseas however this week, 150 years ago, the Great Chicago Fire occurred, and we thought it was a good opportunity to share a brief history of the devastating event as it had far reaching ramifications for the development of fire protection. Around 8.3

Fire Brigade Championships (as we know them today) began as ‘Demonstrations’ where fire brigades demonstrated their skills to the local community. Events in the ‘Demo’ are based on real situations that firefighters face daily and are designed to highlight their talent and expertise. These demonstrations were also used as a way to train firefighters. Following the formation of the NSW Fire Brigades in 1910, it was not until 1932 that ‘Demos’ were reinstated as a regular occurr

*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate the opening of the centenary of Narrabri Fire Brigade at an event held in 2018. Should you wish to use any of the information and pictures provided we ask that you please reference the Museum correctly and contact the Museum for permission where applicable. A Town Ravaged by Fire Narrabri is traditionally thought of as a quiet town, however it has had a long histor

It is #AskACuratorDay tomorrow (Wednesday 15 September 2021) and to celebrate we are hosting a week-long curatorial takeover! Did you know that our CEO started her museum career as a Curator? Perhaps this is why she has endorsed this weeklong promotion of our curatorial team, but it might also be because Curators are the backbone of a museum. What is a curator? A curator is defined as a keeper or custodian of a museum or other collection. It is Curators who oversee the conser

The 1820s in Sydney Before we begin an exploration of Sydney’s fire protection in the 1820s, let’s set the scene. The year was 1821, 200 years ago, when the first steps were made to ensure Sydney’s protection against fire. Two appliances were purchased by the authorities and by the end of 1821, they had arrived in the colony. The year, like most before it, brought great change to the colony. Amongst other things, the Australian Magazine made its debut, Australia’s greatest ex

By Guest Writer Ian Grimwood This blog is a modified extract from Ian’s recent History Week presentation. To view the recording please visit https://www.museumoffire.net/copy-of-history-week-2021 In this piece, I will highlight the close association that the Australian Military Forces and the Fire Brigade in NSW have had since the nineteenth century, up to contemporary times. If we start with the Metropolitan Fire Brigade (MFB) back in 1884 a portion of the senior leadership

What are we up to now and what was happening then? It is very timely to be writing this blog as we near the end of another month in lockdown. Being the end of the month, I am in the usual process of signing off on our financials and other projects, so it is a great time for reflection. With the Museum closed until further notice we have had to adapt our public offerings and this has meant that we are heavily focusing upon digital content. A few weeks ago, we hosted our first