Hall of Flame
Museum of Firefighting
Exhibits
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| Top: Two views of Gallery I; Above left: Two of the 25 pieces on display in Gallery II; Above right: Part of the National Firefighting Hall of Heroes Gallery |
The Hall of Flame has five exhibit galleries. Visitors receive an exhibits catalogue which describes all of the major exhibits. These exhibits are identified with a numbered plaque that corresponds to the description in the exhibit catalogue. Smaller exhibits are described with text cards and text mounted on pedestals. Within Gallery I is a small theater in which visitors can view a wide variety of videos relating to the history of firefighting. Visitors see a 10 minute video which introduces them to the exhibit galleries at the museum.
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Left: The museum's 50 seat theater displays helmets and memorabilia as well as showing a wide variety of videos and computerized presentations on its digital projector. |
Attached to Gallery II is the National Firefighting hall of Heroes, where visitors can view the photographs and citations of over five hundred firefighters who have received national awards for heroism. They can also view the names of the more than two thousand firefighters who have died in the line of duty since 1981, the first year in which national records were kept. They can also view the names, citations and photographs of hundreds of other firefighters who have received local awards for heroism or who died in the line of duty prior to 1981 in our computerized database. To obtain additional information about the Hall of Heroes click Here.
Most visitors require at least an hour to tour the galleries. It is not unusual for visitors with a special interest in firefighting to spend several hours in the galleries.
One fire engine is available for boarding by visitors. Picture taking is welcome. We have a large fire safety exhibit that contains many hands on activities for children.
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This 1951 American La France Model 700 fire engine from Miami, Arizaona is available for boarding by visitors. The rig is fully functional. We have removed ladders and hose to make access easier. |
Click Here to Browse a Photo Gallery of some of our exhibits.
Gallery I |
This 10,000 square foot gallery contains over 40 manual and horse drawn pieces of apparatus, dating from 1725 to 1908. There are pieces from the United States, England, France, Austria, and Japan. There are a wide variety of engines, ladder wagons, parade carriages, hose wagons, chemical wagons, a fire sled or "pung", an aerial ladder wagon, and steam powered engines. Also on exhibit are a large number of lithographs, engravings, prints, and paintings. There is a fine display of over 100 insurance firemarks from all over the world.
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Gallery II |
In this 10,000 square foot gallery are 27 motorized pieces dating from 1897 to 1930. Most of the pieces are American. Makers include American La France, Seagrave, Robinson, Ahrens-Fox, Mack, Howe, Brockway, Merryweather, Christie, Moreland, Kissell, and Waterous. Among the rarest pieces is an 1897 Champion water tower that was motorized with a Christie tractor in 1915, a Waterous hand or horse drawn gasoline powered pumper, and a Brockway chemical car. A Merryweather Braidwood body style fire engine built in London in 1913 was used by the fire department of Lima, Peru. All of these pieces are fully restored. A 1951 American La France Model 700 engine from Miami, Arizona is available for boarding.
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Gallery III |
This gallery of 5,000 square feet contains 11 restored engines dating from 1930 to 1968, including a 1950 Autocar high pressure fog, a 1930 Ahrens-Fox Quad, and a 1961 Mercedes-Metz TLF-8 all-terrain fire engine. Other makers include Maxim, Seagrave, Mack, and Howe. Last year we added a fully restored 1955 Seagrave Anniversary Model "Quad" donated by the fire department of Oak Lawn, Illinois. We also added a fully operational 1968 ERF/HCB-Angus "pump/escape" fire engine from the Nottinghamshire Fire Brigade this rig was donated to the museum by Mr. and Mrs. Peter Eichorn. Also in this gallery are three operating alarm room exhibits. One Gamewell system dates from 1925 and was used in Glendale, California. A second system was made by the Phoenix Fire Department in 1956 and was one of the earliest binary systems to make full use of telephone capabilities. The third system is a Protectowire operating system that demonstrates an effective alarm system using a specially constructed thermal cable.
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Gallery IV |
This 5,000 square foot gallery contains three fine aerial trucks made by American La France, Seagrave and Pirsch, as well as a classic 1935 American La France Model 400 engine and a 1935 Ford/Pirsch V-8 fire engine. Also on display in this gallery are over 3,000 arm patches from fire departments all over the world. Computerized catalogues allow visitors to quickly locate patches from their city, state, or province. Gallery IV also contains a large Fire Safety Exhibit consisting of a mini-theater, a two room Safety House, and a large practical application area. Soon to join Gallery IV's exhibits is a 1955 American La France aerial ladder truck which saw service in Baldwin, New York and Lynnfield, Massachusetts.
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| Hall of Heroes | The National Firefighting Hall of heroes is a 3,000 square foot gallery that deals with the human element of firefighting. In this gallery can be found the names of the thousands of American firefighters who have died in the line of duty. Thousands of firefighters who have been recognized for acts of heroism are also found in this gallery. The gallery also contains exhibits which relate the stories of the volunteer and paid structural firefighters and wildland firefighters. This gallery opened in 1998. For more information go the the National Firefighting Hall of Heroes page on this website. |
| Wildland Firefighting Gallery | This gallery will be open by the end of 2002. It is 2,500 square feet and deals with the growth of wildland firefighting in the United States. It includes a replica of a lookout cabin, several pieces of apparatus, a wide variety of tools, and exhibits about the smoke jumpers, hotshots, engine crews and Class II crews which comprise the firefighters of the state forestry departments, rural fire protection districts and the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and Park Service. For more information go to the Wildland Firefighting Gallery page on this website. |
Home | Who We Are | Collections | National Firefighting Hall of Heroes | Membership | Volunteers | Hours & Location | What's New | Related Web Sites | Hall of Flame Photo Gallery | Table of Contents Page | Fire Safety Exhibit Page