Apparatus Finds New Life In Phoenix Hall of Fame
Both foreign and American antique fire apparatus are displayed in the Hall of Flame in Phoenix, Ariz. Sponsored by the National Historical Fire Foundation, the fire museum houses hand pumpers, steamers and automotive apparatus.
An exquisite hose reel carriage, built about 1870, was reserved for parades. The hose reel circles glass panels that are intricately etched. When lighted lanterns hanging on the sides reflect on this glass, sending forth a sparkling spectrum of color.
There are a variety of hand pumpers. The New London pumper, c. 1855, is made of solid mahogany and was manned by 20 fighters. A Hunneman and Co. hand pumper (c. 1852) has leather hose with copper rivets.
Foreign hand tubs
An 1838 pumper was once the property of the Earl of Harrington at Alveston Castle in Derby, England. A French pumper from Ivoy le Pre, near Paris, could actually be lifted from its wheels and carried to the fire by four men. This was necessary wherever streets were exceptionally narrow. A simple Japanese pumper from Kameoka City was also generally carried to the fire.
Automobile buffs may remember the Kissel, manufactured in Hartford, Wis. About 1920, the Kissel Company donated two truck chassis to the City of Hartford to be converted to fire apparatus. One of them, a ladder truck is in the Hall of Flame. One of the ladders, carried on top of this truck, was 65 feet long, and it was extremely difficult to lift it off and put it back on.
One of the most interesting exhibits is a squat, stolid, five-ton Silsby steamer that has no brakes. It was built in 1878 and was used on the flat terrain around Ocean City, N.J. This steamer was able to pump 600 gpm.
Chiefs buggies exhibited
There are several chiefs Buggies in the exhibit. The horsedrawn ones are quite stately. One of the mechanical models, a 1909 Brush Runabout, had a one-cylinder engine capable of developing 9½ horsepower. The driver could make it do all of 18 mph. One fire chief retired his Runabout for good after he was passed, on the way to a fire, by a boy on a bicycle.
Besides the old apparatus, there are displays of alarm systems and a glass case featuring fire helmets from almost every country in the world, from Saudi Arabia to the Philippines.
Speaking trumpets used by early firemen and chiefs also are in the Hall of Flame. The simplest trumpets were made of tin and some were made of brass. Eventually silver horns came on the scene, and many of them were elaborately engraved. The more elaborate trumpets were frequently used as awards. The trumpets were also handy as weapons and when plugged, could be used as drinking mugs to toast a successful run.
A special display spotlights fire marks, which identified properties underwritten by various insurance companies. In some areas, the early insurance companies sponsored various fire companies, which were reluctant—and it is said sometimes refused—to fight a fire in a building without a fire mark or with a fire mark of a competitor.
