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Manual Fire Engines  Today, fire engines are a sight to behold, their bright red colour, flashing lights, and loud sirens herald their arrival. Equipped with a variety of equipment, they are truly prepared for any emergency. However, if we take a step back in time to the origins of organised firefighting in Sydney, we find a vastly different scene.   The early 19th century marked a major advancement in firefighting technology with the rise of the manual fire engine, an evolut

Manly Fire Station watchroom, c. 1920 [Museum of Fire Collection] One of our most well-loved displays here at the Museum of Fire is the watchroom. All communications were channelled through the watchroom and may have come from public phone lines, direct lines from other stations, connection to street fire alarm pillar boxes, public buildings - such as theatres and other high-risk locations - fire detection systems, and to the ‘call out’ bells in the homes of volunteer firefig

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

We are excited to bring you our most recent update to our New and Noteworthy exhibit. To showcase the vast collection we have at the Museum of Fire, this exhibit gives us a chance to showcase new donations or noteworthy objects in our collection. The objects chosen for this display highlight Australia’s bushfire history, ranging from board games and education kits to collectable limited-edition figurines. The exhibit is on display for a limited time only so be sure to catch i

This year for 2024 our Vehicle of the Year is the 1984 Centenary Vehicle, an International 1810C pumper more colloquially and favourably known as the ‘White Knight’. As the name suggests this fire engine was originally commissioned and installed in 1984 to celebrate the centenary of the Fire Brigade (known as the New South Wales Fire Brigade, NSWFB, now better known as Fire and Rescue NSW, FRNSW). This pumper stood out for one major reason, that being its colour! The White Kn

Last year for Ask a Museum Day 2022 we introduced you to the Heritage Team which at the time had some fresh additions to the team, Ben as the new curator (that’s me) and Ella as the Assistant Curator. A year has passed, and we still get questions each and everyday from people asking us about what it is we exactly get up to in our jobs, so we wanted to take the opportunity this year now that we have been in our roles for a little while to answer some of those questions! Interv

We are excited to bring you one of our most recent exhibits New and Noteworthy . To showcase the vast collection we have at the Museum of Fire, this exhibit gives us a chance to showcase new donations or noteworthy objects in our collection. The objects chosen for its first display span over 100 years, from a T. J. Bown & Co coupling from 1889, to the fifth Chief Officer Thomas Nance’s uniform (c. 1929-1934), and a Fire and Rescue NSW drone from 2015-2020. T. J. Bown & Co Cou

Commer first began in south London around 1904 as Commercial Cars Ltd, manufacturing a variety of vehicles with a forward control aiming to implement better petrol-electric transmissions that relieved drivers of needing to master the art of the “crash gear box’. Commer would participate in the fire engine industry as early as 1910, teaming up with Henry Simonis and Co of Watford. Simonis was an established fire engineering company and provided the firefighting equipment and b

I am very excited to be able to say that the Museum is now open! What a year it has been! After such a tumultuous 2020 we never expected to face a more challenging 2021. This year the lockdown lasted much longer than the previous year and we were forced to stand down all of our staff either completely or partially (including myself and the senior management team). When the Museum closed its doors in June 2021, we were experiencing a high having come off our busiest year for v

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