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In the last year 28,000 people have read the Museum blog online, which is just a phenomenal response to our weekly publication! Since we launched the blog in July 2020 almost 72,000 people have read out stories! Thank you to those who have subscribed and join us weekly. If you haven’t yet subscribed be sure to, so you don’t miss an issue! You can also follow the Museum on Facebook and Instagram to receive updates. For those who have been regular readers you’ll have your own f

This year, 2025, marks 50 years since the first lot of hydraulic powered rescue equipment (known as the Jaws of Life) was introduced in the NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB, now Fire and Rescue NSW). The first three kits of Jaws of Life were known as the Enerpac Rescue Sets, with these sets originally installed at Blacktown, Hornsby, and Miranda Fire Stations. The Jaws of Life were intended to be used at an accident before the arrival of other rescue squads, which at the time were th

It was 30 years ago that the first K9 entered the services of the NSW Fire Brigade (NSWFB, today Fire and Rescue NSW). Known as Sabre , they made their debut at the Firefighter Championships held in Armidale on 16 September 1995. A pure-breed German Shepherd, Sabre joined the NSWFB aged just 7-months and began training as an accelerant’s detector dog with handler and Rescue/Bushfire Officer Graham McCarthy. Sabre was officially gifted to the NSWFB at the Graduation event held

Cootamundra’s First Attempts to Establish Interest in forming a fire brigade in Cootamundra began in early 1882, after a fire broke out in the milliner’s shop in February of that year. A kerosene lamp had been left unattended, and the fire spread to some of the dresses hanging above the counter, engulfing the shop in seconds. The residence of Cootamundra quickly got to work forming a bucket brigade, passing buckets between the shop and a nearby well. They were successfully ab

Out of the many displays at the Museum of Fire, one that often captures visitors’ attention is the large set of shelves filled with hundreds, if not thousands, of identical books. These aren’t just any old books, and their uniform size and shape hint at a shared purpose. And indeed, they do share something very special: they are occurrence books . Members of the Museum of Fire install the occurrence book display at the Museum in the 1990s [Museum of Fire Collection] Occurrenc

Fifty years ago, 1975, was an incredibly busy year for the NSW Fire Brigades (NSWFB; today Fire and Rescue NSW, FRNSW) with technological changes in firefighting equipment and one of the largest ever building programs underway in the history of the NSWFB.   In June 1975 the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW (the governing body of the NSWFB) five-year term of service (1970-1975), as outlined by the Fire Brigades Act , was terminated and a new board was constituted, meeting fo

1935 Katoomba Demonstration pin, image courtesy of John Hand Demonstrations began in the last quarter of the 19th century. Originally they were known as ‘ Grand Colonial Demonstrations’ and it would be soon after that they would became known as  State Demonstrations  following Federation in 1901. Forbes, Armidale, Dubbo and others would host the last lot of State Demonstrations, with the final one being in Corowa in 1909 prior to the formation of the Board of Fire Commission

As the year draws to a close, we always spend time reflecting on what stories and photographs were popular on our socials. Our team enjoy sharing historic incidents and anniversaries, just as much as we take pride in sharing the various updates we’ve made around the Museum and the various activities we’ve been taking part in. In what will be one of the last blogs for 2024 we’ve taken a look at the most popular images we’ve shared on Instagram. It is said that a picture speaks

It’s time for another look back at what was happening in the world of the NSW Fire Brigade (NSWFB, today known as Fire and Rescue NSW, FRNSW) thirty years ago, twenty years ago and ten years ago! Here is a quick spin through thirty years of history! Thirty Years Ago - 1994 Thirty years ago, in 1994, there were a lot of legislative changes being enacted by the NSW Government that directly affected the NSWFB, specifically through amendments to the Fire Brigades Act (1989). The

We focus so much on telling other people’s stories in this blog that we thought we would take the time to tell you our story, and how the Museum of Fire came to be.   The Museum’s history begins with the establishment of the Historic Fire Engine Association of Australia (HFEAA; now known as the Historic Fire Engine Association). In 1968 Brian Blunt and Bob Winch purchased a Dennis Big 4 fire engine from the Board of Fire Commissioners of NSW (now Fire and Rescue NSW, FRNSW),