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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

The Olympics has everyone excited, and we were very enthusiastic to share this story that was recently brought to our attention. The Museum is often approached to undertake research to verify tid bits of history and while many times the story being fact checked turns out to not be true, with the Olympic spirit raging through our offices we were asked to confirm if a local Orange Firefighter was indeed the first NSW Firefighter to attend the Olympics AND take home a gold medal

*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate the centenary of Tumut Fire Station. 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. Establishment of a Fire Brigade in Tumut Discussions for the establishment of a fire brigade in Tumut occurred after a premises owned by Mrs T. Downing

*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate the history of Warrawong 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 Port Kembla/Warrawong The present-day area of Port Kembla and Warrawong historically remained largely un-develo

As we enter a new year there is much to look forward to at the Museum. These school holidays are already very busy with extra weekday fire engine rides available thanks to the dedication of our volunteers. The 2023 Art Competition Exhibit has also opened and will remain on show throughout the summer. The 2023 theme was “rescue”, and the caliber of entries was very high which has made the judging process very difficult. The winners will be announced at a ceremony to be held la

This week marks thirty years since what has become known as the 1994 Eastern Seaboard Fires. At the time these were the most ferocious fires NSW had seen in approximately 20 years. Please note that the terminology used in this brief recap of the 1994 bushfire emergency is reflective of the vernacular used at the time of the incident. In some places modern language has been adapted, however for the most part the terms use reflects what was colloquial in 1994. Fire in Bungoona

As we reflect on the last twelve months and all that we’ve achieved at the Museum we thought we’d take one last walk down memory lane for 2023 and throw it back ten years to 2013. In 2013 four Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) fire brigades saw the completion of building works and the commencement of operations out of new stations. These were: Jerilderie (officially opened 5 November, the brigade dates back to 1898) Coolamon (officially opened 6 November, the brigade dates back to

*This information is an extract from the colour-book produced by the Museum of Fire's Heritage Team to celebrate the brand new station opening for Murrurundi in 2018. The following is dedicated to the station's continuing history celebrating now at the time of writing in 2023, 86 years of history. 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

To set the scene of how the fire brigade formed in the Snowy Mountains we are going to take you back to the early 1900s when the area around Mt Kosciusko was evolving as a popular tourist area with a hotel being built nearby in 1909. Tourism continued to grow over the coming decades and in the early 1940s the government was looking at establishing a national park in the area. In 1944 the State Executive Council approved the constitution of a Kosciusko State Park Trust to take

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