Hall of Flame

The Hall of Flame Fire Museum and the National Firefighting Hall of Heroes, located in Phoenix, Arizona, has almost an acre of fire history exhibits, with over 90 fully restored pieces of fire apparatus on display, dating from 1725 to 1969. Most of the exhibits are American, but they also have pieces from England, France, Austria, Germany, and Japan. The Hall of Flame sponsors the National Firefighting Hall of Heroes, which honors firefighters who have died in the line of duty or who have been decorated for heroism. The Hall also includes a gallery dedicated to the history of wildland firefighting in the United States.

The Hall of Flame is sponsored by the National Historical Fire Foundation, which was established in 1961 by George F. Getz, Jr. The Hall is located in Phoenix, Arizona at 6101 East Van Buren Street. It is open Monday through Saturday from 0900 to 1700, and Sundays from 1200 to 1600. Their website is www.hallofflame.org.

The Hall has six exhibit galleries. Visitors receive an exhibits catalogue which describes all of the major exhibits. These exhibits are identified with a numbered plaque that corresponds to the description in the exhibit catalogue. Smaller exhibits are described with text cards and text mounted on pedestals. Within Gallery I is a small theater in which visitors can view a wide variety of videos relating to the history of firefighting. Visitors can view a 10 minute video which introduces them to the exhibit galleries at the museum.

American Firefighters who have died in the line of duty since 1981 (the first year in which national records were kept) are recognized on the walls of the Hall of Heroes. In December 2001 a special exhibit, including names, companies, and photographs, of the 343 FDNY firefighters who died in the line of duty was opened in the Hall of Heroes. Two friends, Lew Sheats of the Chatham, NJ Fire Department and Stephen “Louis” Jones of the Roswell, NM Fire Department have their names displayed.

While visiting Phoenix on November 27th, 2009 I made another stop at the museum and took some additional photos.