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An Update From Our CEO, Belinda McMartin The Museum of Fire is located in a heritage listed building. Our site was a former power station that was built to alleviate major power shortages to Sydney after World War Two. The building holds a unique place within the history of the development of the local area as well as in industrial (specifically power station) history across NSW due to the unique design and “packaged” nature of the plant. At the time of its construction thre

In the Museum’s collection is a wonderful historic fire engine, the 1923 Merryweather Turntable Ladders, which celebrates its 100th birthday this year. In honour of such it has been commemorated as the Museum of Fire’s vehicle of the year for 2023. Whilst a somewhat allusive fire engine in the historical record, the Merryweather has certainly got some stories to tell over its 100-year tenure. Early History of Merryweather and the Petrol Fire Engine Revolution The turntable la

At the start of 2022 our team at the Museum of Fire selected “Floods” as the theme of that year’s art competition. In the previous two years the competition had paid tribute to the terrible bushfires of 2019-2020 and more recently the resilience the community showed during the COVID-19 pandemic. These topics all reflect how difficult the last three years have been and while the artworks created by the children could have reflected a very pessimistic or gloomy view of the worl

My last blog took a look back at the last year so it's perfect that this blog now looks to what we have planned for 2023! Our team at the Museum have a busy schedule of events planned for the year and I’m excited to see lots of visitors pass through our doors. Our calendar of public events kicks off on Sunday 12 February with our first Heritage Day of the year. The theme for this event is ladder, platform and aerial appliances. The two feature vehicles of this display day wil

Since taking up the position of Museum of Fire CEO in mid-2020 I have been pleased to see the Museum develop and grow in all areas. When we re-opened the Museum following the first COVID closure in early 2020 we had just two permanent staff and three casual weekend staff. Two and a half years later we now have a team of fifteen and our heritage arm continues to be the greatest beneficiary of that growth. How have we achieved this growth many ask? We haven’t found a magical go

In my reflections on 2021 I stated that we were looking forward to some clear air in 2022 to build on the hard work performed in the previous 12 months. Little did I know that mother nature had other things in mind that would keep our CEO Belinda McMartin, our staff and volunteers continually finding ways to meet the challenges head on! Staff shortages through Covid isolation stretched our very thin workforce to the limit and it amazes me that we were able to keep the doors o

HAPPY SPRING to all of the Museum's loyal supporters and visitors! This time last year we were contemplating exiting lockdown and wondering when life would get back to some type of normal, so it is great to see that one year on the public are really getting behind the museum and getting out to visit organisations such as ours that have been so severely impacted by the multiple closures. Let's start off this blog with one for all the Duke fans out there! The Museum's spotted m

For Ask a Museum Day this year we wanted to introduce you to our heritage team! Are you curious to know what it is like to work in a museum? Our team have answered questions just like this to give you an insight into their work, as well as some fun questions like whether or not our museum is haunted… Keep reading to find out! Meet our Heritage Manager Natasha! What does your typical day look like?   My role is to oversee the heritage and curatorial collection team, as well

It is that time of year when we begin looking to the next year to plan our events and activities. It may seem early to be looking towards 2023 but in order for the Museum to undertake any exhibition upgrades (potentially apply for grant funding for those upgrades) and prepare a schedule of events for the year we need to start looking at the calendar now. Over the course of August and into September our team will finalise almost all of our events and the projects on the agenda

HEAR US NOW. This was the theme of the recent 2022 Australian Museum and Galleries Association Conference held in Perth, Western Australia. It was great to be able to attend this meeting of Museum-minded people from all types of organisations across the sector. These annual events are always a useful way to assess how we are progressing as an organisation in comparison to the rest of the industry and to learn about ways that we can tackle some of the biggest issues facing our