North Charleston Fire Museum

[c-series don 10,354]

Over the weekend we flew down to see my daughter in Charleston,S.C. and decided to go check out this museum. I must say that I was super impressed by the quality of the restorations of these trucks. Figured I would take a few pictures for you guys, I know how much you love pictures!! 

[ri702bill 9,822]

Nice! No taxidermy spotted dog to help find the hydrants??!! 

[JCM 10,286]

Nice Don. Looks like Groucho Marx answering the call with one of his usual remarks. I got a good mind to join a club and hit you over the head with it.   

[Mickwhitt 5,177]

That's the way to do a museum my friends 

[953 nut 61,402]

What an outstanding display, I wonder how many of the old hand pump units still exist?  First one I have seen other than in pre 1900 photos.      

[Mickwhitt 5,177]

3 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

That's the way to do a museum my friends 

Most of our exhibits of this type are poorly renovated and usually covered in dust. We have an emergency services museum in Sheffield and it's pretty poor to say it's about such an essential service.

There's very little money spare to spend on the past, when the present is pretty dire lol. 

[stevasaurus 23,395]

Fire engines live in a special place in my heart.  During my tour in the Navy, stationed in Maine, we had to stand duty sometimes in the Fire Barn.  It was a 24 hour shift, and during the day, we got to take out the Fire Truck, hook it up and use it for what it was meant for.  It was excellent training.  I remember it was hard to be the 1st hoser.  The hose, opened up, could move you around.  The 2nd hoser was the place to be.  Driving that truck around was pretty special also.

  Nice pictures Don, thank you for bringing back some of the past.  

[Handy Don 14,437]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. If I get down that way I’ll try to remember to make time of visit.

There is, a LOT closer to my home, another terrific museum in Hudson, NY co-located with a home for retired firefighters. Many of these men and women volunteer at the museum as restorers and docents. https://fasnyfiremuseum.com

[c-series don 10,354]

@Handy Don I’ve been to the museum and the firemen’s home. I’m also a member of FASNY- Firemen’s Association of the State of New York. There is a beautiful library in the home that was paid for by a donation from a friend and deceased member of my fire department. My wife has threatened to send me to the firemen’s home more than once!! 
 I tried to donate my own antique fire truck to that museum and they told me it was full and they had no more room. 1962 F-250 4x4 with a 250 GPM Barton-American pump. I got it with 1200 original miles and sold it with 1800 miles. Had lots of fun with it, parades, decorating it to take the kids trick or treating and even won a drafting competition with it. When I lost my indoor storage space I couldn’t bare to leave it outside after it had been stored inside its whole life. I ended up selling it to a fellow firefighter from New Jersey who gave it the home it deserved. 

Edited 15 hours ago by c-series don

[Beap52 1,555]

I've come to appreciate museums.  Our road trip a couple of weeks ago included museums and other places that we found historic and interesting.  The Erie Canal-- how do they get the locks to be so watertight?--Not only today but 200 years ago?  How did they build a electric power house near the Niagara Falls in 1905 with a brick lined tunnel for water discharge some 2,200 feet long?  The RV museum in Elkhart, Indiana was very interesting.  I believe the one that was most solemn and thought provoking was the three navel vessels in Buffalo, NY.  

 

As we stood on those decks and hall ways, the four of us talked about how overwhelming it would be a 18,19 or early twenty's year old man climbing on board heading off in a vast ocean to fight in battles in countries they probably had never heard of?  Museums give us a glimpse of days gone by.  Thanks for posting these fire engines.  

 

Below is a picture of a display showing a few items used in damage control onboard one of the navel ships.  The cork looking item near the letter "E" was to be driven into a hole left by a bullet to keep water out of the ship.  No doubt one of our grandfathers or grand great grandfathers would have been expected to perform this duty. 

[Handy Don 14,437]

14 hours ago, Beap52 said:

I believe the one that was most solemn and thought provoking was the three navel vessels in Buffalo, NY.  

Thanks for the reminder. The starkness of the innards of those vessels was a revelation but it was the racks of missiles on the cruiser that brought me up short. 

 

Some years ago I visited the Intrepid, an aircraft carrier now a floating museum in NYC. The exhibits and videos on the hanger deck in particular were quite intense. They painted a deeply moving picture of what the crew went through while trying to save the ship, and themselves, from fire while under intense attack.