Australia – The Penrith Museum of Fire is a no profit organisation started in 2013 which is mostly administered by current and retired firefighters and supported by both professional staff and a team of volunteers of the community

Australia: ​The Museum’s collection is of national importance and it celebrates the heroic history of the australian Firefighters and Fire services

It present a fun and interactive collection where children and adults can participate in Firefighting adventures and learn life skills as they experience what it is like to wear the uniform and put your life on the line to save others.

Many of the items from the Museum’s extensive heritage collection are listed on the State Heritage Register and it is the responsibility of the Museum to ensure their preservation.

The Museum of Fire keeps pursuing its purposes through the advancement of its Collection, growth in displays and Museum Infrastructure.

It continues to target its audience with lifesaving fire & safety education and continue to advance and develop its research capabilities to the benefit of public and to assist Government agencies.

The purpose of the museum is to provide a world class facility for the study and the enjoyment of the history of fire and the preservation of the heritage of firefighting and the mission is to provide a not for profit permanent institution at the services of society, dedicated to the acquisition, conservation, research and communication of fire, fire fighting and fire prevention exhibits for education.

It is recognised as one of Australia’s leading museums for the preservation of fire service history

The museum always aim to acquire, conserve and curate material appropriate to the theme of firefighting, material to be dynamically employed, to educate the visitors through exhibition and interaction.

They consider the preservation, conservation, interpretation and research of the fire services cultural heritage as an integral part of the nation’s heritage.

They actively encourage and support the protection, development and construction of memorials, plaques, statues and other recognitions of the role that fire services and firefighters play in the protection of the Australian people.

Inside the museum you can admire some incredible vehicles and equipments from all ages and countries

For example the exhibition presents various handpumps from Australia, England and a rare example from Japan, but also horse drawn pumps (with one of the best examples being the one from the Metropolitan Fire Brigade), steam pumps (with the beautiful Merryweather Valiant Steam Pump from 1890) and more modern ladder engines and pump engines, from the beautiful 1916 Garford type 64, to the 1919 Garford type 75, the 1927 Essex Hose Carriage, the stunning and one of a kind 1929 Ahrens-Fox Model P-S-2, the 1942 American LaFrance B-601 and many more.

Inside the main hall you’ll learn about “The Squirt”, one of the first firefighting devices, invented in England in the late 16th century, essentially a syringe which, for the first time, could direct jets of water accurately and in a concentrated form directly at the fire.

Also, according to another information panel, the first mention of fire engines in Sydney dates back to 1822, when a chimney caught fire in the military barracks.

The machines they used to extinguish the flames were later described by a witness as “a small coffin pulled by hand”, or hand pumps as we call them now.

SPECIAL VEHICLES FOR FIREFIGHTERS: VISIT ALLISON’S BOOTH AT EMERGENCY EXPO

A mission of great importance is to assist in the ongoing development of relations between fire services and the Australian community by nurturing the community’s continuing interest in the firefighting past and ongoing achievements and also to maintain and further develop a research centre and library for the development of historical research, education curricula, resource material, publications and personnel on the theme of Fire.

But most of all the museum wants to serve the community by making available the Museum’s grounds for appropriate purposes and events.

By Michele Gruzza

Read Also:

Firefighters, History Of American-LaFrance Fire Engines Co

Emergency Museum: Switzerland, The Endingen Feuerwehrmuseum

Source:

Museum of Fire; Traveller.com.au; Flickr.com/sv1ambo;

Link:

https://www.museumoffire.net/about-the-museum

https://www.traveller.com.au/penrith-museum-of-fire-stories-burnt-into-history-gm2l2c

https://www.flickr.com/photos/50415738@N04/12318790854/in/photostream/