Tools

The Cabinet

In the front section of the museum you will find many of the “Tools of the Trade” of firefighting. First along the right wall as you look towards the big green doors you will see a cabinet with an assortment of items. The bottom shelf has several versions of fire hose nozzles.

These nozzles go onto the end of the fire hose and spray water onto the fire. Some are older, some are made of brass, or aluminium, while some are for different size of hoses and some provide different types of spray patterns. There are also a couple wrenches that firefighters use to connect or disconnect lengths of hose or to turn on or turn off fire hydrants. 

The middle shelf has several pairs of firefighting gloves used to protect your hands. The older ones in the middle have no fire resistance. The blue ones on the ends are rated for firefighting and have fire resistance.

You will also see a couple fire axes crossed in the middle. They are different from ordinary axes in that they have a pick on the one side to make holes for forcible entry.

The top shelf has several face masks used to help Firefighters breathe in smokey conditions. The older ones are on the right  going to newer ones on the left. These would be attached to a breathing air tank or pack worn by the firefighters. Legislation now mandates wearing a SCBA (Self Contained Breathing Apparatus) at all fires or incidents where its hazardous to breathe the air.

This was not always the case. For many many years Firefighters did not wear Breathing air packs. This was either by choice or it was not provided. Technology has advanced air packs and there are many safety features built into them now. 

On the floor next to the cabinet and the wall, you will see two Air packs. An older one on the left with a yellow cylinder and a newer one on the right.

Directly above the cabinet on the wall, you can see a life-size cut out of a modern firefighter in all their fireproof gear wearing an air pack and a mask. 

Also on the floor you can see several pieces of what is called Extrication Equipment. These are heavy duty tools used by firefighters when they respond to vehicle accidents or scenes of entrapment. They are used to pry, cut and spread the metal in a car to help get the occupants out of the vehicle to a safe place or to receive medical care.

In the corner guarded by the fire hose and fire hydrants you can see several pieces of unique fire fighting equipment. The tall “T” shaped piece is a cellar nozzle, used to apply water to a basement fire before making entry. Also on the floor is a Master Stream device, used to apply large volumes of water. Finally, there is an exposure nozzle, used to cover an area with water to prevent fire from spreading to that area.