Firehouse Museum | San Diego Review

Located at 1572 Columbia St, San Diego, CA 92101
A few blocks east from the San Diego County Administration Building is a structure that used to be Old Fire Station Number 6.
It started serving the surrounding community of Little Italy in 1915.
In the 1960s, the fire house was moved to what is now Fire Station 1 downtown, while its machine shop was moved to Kearny Mesa.
This left a vacant building which collectors of fire station memorabilia and equipment turned into the San Diego Firehouse Museum.
Pioneer Hook and Ladder Company is the non-profit that operates the museum
and it's open for several hours each day from Thursday through Sunday for visitors to see the fire equipment and engines.
In 1907, the owner of the largest building in town, the Cabrillo Hotel in La Jolla, requested protection from fires.
La Jolla Number 1 is the fire rig that was put together and pulled by hand by the volunteer fire crew. If they came across a horse drawn carriage, they had the option of hitching up the horse to bring the fire rig to the fire.
Until 1913, this chemical rig was the only fire protection La Jolla had. In addition to the storage tank and extinguishers,
note these two pointed brass decorations. They are actually oil burning brass torches that would provide some light during nighttime fire fights.
The Atlas Life Saving Machine resembles a trampoline or large safety net. It's almost ten feet in diameter with a stretched canvas
that is opaque to increase the confidence of those that had to jump from a building into it. It took a minimum of six firefighters to operate, but could easily be set up in two or three seconds.
Invented in 1887, it had a jump height limit of about six stories. It did save many lives, despite back, neck, and arm injuries sustained by the firefighters.
By 1980 the Atlas Life Saving Machine became obsolete, replaced by ladder trucks that could reach greater heights more safely with smaller crews.
Until the early 1900s, firefighters used fire grenades. These glass containers were filled with water or a chemical fire retardant and thrown to suppress a fire locally.
They had the exact opposite intention of a Molotov cocktail, however, the carbon tetrachloride used was carcinogenic causing damage to the nervous system and internal organs.
The steamer engine here actually served in Milwaukee from 1903 to 1922 and was acquired by the Firehouse Museum in 1966.
Although it has the word steam in its name, this 1903 American LaFrance Metropolitan Steamer was still pulled by a horse to transport it to and from fires. The steam was actually used to heat up air to pressurize the water hoses when fighting a fire.
This steamer engine was retired in 1922 and acquired by the Firehouse Museum in 1970.
Here's a photo of an Ahrens steamer engine shooting water above the courthouse in San Diego in 1906.
Fire extinguishers are considered a first line of defense against fires. They are used in the few minutes prior to the arrival of a fire engine on scene.
Early extinguishers were buckets with sand or water. These stirrup pump models used during World War II contained water that could be hand pumped at the fire.
This pressurized military extinguisher sprayed a gas that would exclude oxygen and smother a fire. It was used primarily on aircraft because of its light weight.
The 2 1/2 gallon extinguisher here covers the area with a foam blanket and had a solution in the water based on licorice.
This red one in the center is a carbon dioxide model good for use against oil and electrical fires. This 15 pound model is one of the largest handheld models and puts out flames with a smothering action.
There are two engines on display at the front of the Firehouse Museum.
This one on the left has a fender open to show the batteries inside. The driver area has a straight bench along with the steering column and gauges. On the side are hookups for hoses with more seating in back and a pipe for possibly a hose or nozzle.
The engine on the right has a straight windshield with two forward-facing emergency lights, a storage box that doubles as a step, along with hose hookups and an assortment of large and small diameter hoses for firefighting.
The Firehouse Museum has a collection showing firefighting around the world. There are patches from Portugal, Mexico, Sweden,
Germany, and Australia, among others. You get to see how they identify their ranks or various fire departments.
There are also vintage helmets
and dress hats worn by the fire crews around the world,
as well as a couple uniforms on display.
In the main hall of the museum is a Seagrave Pumper or fire engine from 1914. It has hookups for water as well as racks for ladders
and a bed in back for carrying hose and other equipment.
Next to it is another 1914 Seagrave fire engine that was put into service in 1915. This apparatus number 141 was originally red in color
and was restored and repainted white in honor of its debut at the 1915 Panama-California Exposition in Balboa

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My 2nd favorite fire truck is the hook and ladder, and of course my favorite is the canteen! I bet those water grenades are collector's items now! Great video! 😊