After an informative
fire safety morning at Eastern Hill Fire Station we went next door to explore the
Fire Services Museum.
This
museum is open to the public on
Thursday & Friday 9 am - 3 pm
Sundays 10 am - 4 pm
Groups on other days by prior arrangement.
Admission fees do apply.
There are many interesting things to explore in this museum and it's an adventure to behold just on it's own. I will let the photo's tell the stories of some of the treasures we saw.
This is an "Austin" serries II front mounted pumper. It was placed in service in 1952 in Ararat Urban Fire Brigade. It made it's way to the museum in 1984. It pumps 350 gal per min and the first aid tank holds 120 gal. It carried a crew of eight.
Top left - a variety of hand chemical extinguishers. The portable fire extinguisher was first developed in 1816 to replace the buckets of water that were stored in buildings for protection against fires. Captain Manby is given the credit for it's design which contained three gallons of water which was pressurized by a hand pump to expel it's contents.
The first soda acid fire extinguisher was deomnstrated at the 1851 Great Exhibition of London
Bottom right - This is an 1880's hydrolic pump which was used to test the Soda Acid and Foam extinguishers to an internal pressure of 300 lb/sq in every four years.
One of the volunteers took out a brass helmet for us to try on. These were used in the service until the early '70's
Left -
St Florin the Patron Saint of Fireman. He was a roman fireman in Austria. When he became a Christian he was sentenced to death in 305 AD.
Top Right - United Kingdom Cap badges follow a basic pattern, an 8 pointed star upon which is the county arms or crest.
The points have individual significance and depict the qualities of a
Fireman - Tact, Perseverence, Gallantry, Observation, Dexterity,
Explicitness, Sympathy,
We finished the day with a tour upstairs of the emergency phone network and operations centre from days gone by.
It was a wonderful couple of hours of exploring the history of fire services in Australia.
Have you been here ? Do you have a museum like this near you ?
Blessings
Chareen
