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*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate the centenary of Willoughby Fire Station back in 2015. 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. What's In A Name? Today the Fire Station on Laurel Street, celebrating it’s Centenary, is known as Willoughby Fire Station. This was n

Hornsby has a long and interesting history relating to the topic of fire protection. Over the years, the area has been afflicted by a range of incidents; from floods and fires to motor vehicle accidents (and sometimes a combination of both!). A well-known incident is of course the destruction of the Hornsby Fire Station building, an incident that took place 50 years ago today (5 January 1971). Before we look at this incident though we’d like to share a brief history of Hornsb

*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate the centenary of Mosman Fire Brigade. 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 Mosman The Fire Brigades Act was extended to Mosman on 3 December 1893 and following a realignment of borough bo

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

*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate major renovations at Kariong Fire Station and Metro North 2 Zone Office. 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 Kariong The first steps to have a fire brigade established in Kariong took pl

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

Last week we shared some of the history of Narrabeen Fire Brigade but did you know that the station was home to a WFA (Women's Fire Auxiliary) unit? During the war Narrabeen Fire Station had 15 women enlisted in the WFA. These women were: E. Duker, S. Ford, J. Harris, M. Jones, A. Kirkwood, B. Kirkwood, O. Kirkwood, M. Haynes, L. McLean, P. McLean, I. Moss, I. Sims, V. Slater, A. Ward and M. Williams. All, except one member of the Narrabeen WFA were appointed on 1 April 1943

*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate the centenary of Narrabeen Fire Brigade. 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 Narrabeen Fire Brigade Though relatively close to Sydney and the Sydney Fire District, Narrabeen remains rather isolated. In 1

During History Week earlier this month we shared our first " digital day". With a lot of people unable to travel and limits on the amount of people we can have on site at the moment we had to look at new ways to engage with everyone. One of the things we did during our digital day was to share some history about NSW's oldest fire stations. If you missed out don't worry as we will share some of these pieces that were put together by our heritage team over the coming months. To