Vancouver firefighter Museum in the works

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – It’s an exhibit that is open in nearly every major city in North America, now we know there are plans in the works to open a Firefighters Museum in Vancouver.

The goal is to have one open to the public by the year 2018, but there is one main obstacle in the way — money. It could cost as much as $100,000 to put the museum together with artifacts and equipment dating back to the 1890s.

“We actually have four really cool trucks and of course the flagship of it is our 1912. The 1912 is in need of just a little bit of tender loving care but it is a very, very nice fire truck. We also have a 1926 that is in need of a little bit of love; a 1942 that was inherited… it’s in beautiful shape. We also have a 1951, which is a convertible-type fire truck. All of these fire trucks are very, very close to being restored to, what we call, very nice shape,” says Vancouver Fire Captain Gabe Roder.

He adds right now the plan is to build it within the fire hall at Knight Street and 55th Avenue which will soon undergo renovations.

“That one is slated for demolition in the next couple of years and it’s slated to be rebuilt and finished by late 2017-2018. The fire chief has stated that they’re going to give us some room within that fire hall to actually to put this museum together. We have so many of these wonderful artifacts that we know people would just love to look at. They’re all hidden away and that’s a shame because these are relics. This is our heritage, not just for the fire department and these things need to get out.”

He adds the Vancouver Firefighters Historical Society and the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Foundation, which was just formed, are working to get the funding. “We do have a Vancouver Fighfighters Charitable Society and we are going to see if we can, in fact, get a little bit of assistance there because this is going to be something, I think, the community will like.”

Roder says they’d like the museum to be free to the public.