William D. "Bill" Killen, National Fire Heritage Center President/CEO and past president of the International Association of Fire Chiefs, has authored and published History of the Apollo and Skylab Astronaut Rescue Team.  The release of the 186-page book coincides with the 50th anniversary of Apollo 12, the sixth crewed flight i...

September 2019 - Newsletter https://www.fireheritageusa.org/newsletters?task=document.viewdoc&id=1

 On Thursday, April 11, 2019, at Opening Ceremony Day 2 of FDIC International 2019, the National Fire Heritage Center (NFHC), which serves as a research facility for fire departments, collectors, fire service professionals, and others who need detailed specifications, base information, and general history relative to the fire service, inducted...

The Board of Directors of the National Fire Heritage Center met in Emmitsburg, Maryland, on Oct. 8, 2018 and inducted the following fire and emergency services leaders into the Hall of Legends, Legacies and Leaders. Ronny J. ColemanRetired Fire Chief, California State Fire Marshal, and founding president of the National Fire Heritage Center Ronny C...

The National Fire Heritage Center recently received two very generous donations of storage equipment and historic texts. Flat files The NFHC was pleased to receive four flat files donated by Jay Livingston of Livingston Fire Protection. The files are ideal for preserving large old-time photos, drawings, posters and even smalls (stored in acid-free ...

This is Part 5 in a series of articles that provide oral history guidelines for those who share our passion for collecting American fire history before it is lost to the ages. The types of questions you ask are critical to the success of your interview. Open-ended questions are questions that encourage people to talk about what is important to them...

This is Part 4 in a series of articles that provide oral history guidelines for those who share our passion for collecting American fire history before it is lost to the ages. The pre-plan In preparation for your interview, you should: Learn as much as you can about the person beforehand.Bring a file folder of archived material.Be prepared with a s...

You have probably heard this old cliché before, "Put your money where your mouth is." The inference is that when you talk about a particular course of action, it doesn't make much difference how much talk you engage in unless you actually do something about it. On the one hand, it is great to have vision and to be pursuing a course of action, but i...

This is Part 3 in a series of articles that provide oral history guidelines for those who share our passion for collecting American fire history before it is lost to the ages. There is a pretty good chance at this point that you already know a person that you would like to interview. If not, look around your organization and you will probably find ...

This is Part 2 in a series of articles that provide oral history guidelines for those who share our passion for collecting American fire history before it is lost to the ages. Interview styles If there is a contemporary interview style that you could easily identify with and effectively adopt, it might be that of a mental health care professional. ...

The National Fire Heritage Center (NFHC) has announced Fireproof Children/Prevention1st of Rochester, New York, as the winner of the Benjamin Franklin Fire Writer's Award for authorship of the formal text, "Juvenile Firesetting: A Community Guide to Prevention and Intervention." The award was presented on July 26 to Prevention1st president Molly Cl...

The sixth Wingspread conference was held last year in Racine, Wisconsin. Wingspread conferences are convened once every 10 years to discuss issues impacting the fire and rescue service now and into the foreseeable future. Forty-three fire and rescue leaders were invited to this intense three-day meeting. Conference participants discussed fourteen i...

The American fire service is fascinating in terms of the breadth of its history, the richness of its traditions, and the deeply embedded values and beliefs of those that serve this profession. The National Fire Heritage Center (NFHC) exists precisely to document and hold in trust the history and culture of the American Fire Service for future gener...

A fire that swept through the Beverly Hills Supper Club in Southgate, Kentucky, on May 28, 1977, killed 162 people and injured more than 100. As a result of this tragedy, national fire codes for public assembly occupancies were changed to require — for the first time — fire alarm and fire sprinkler systems to help prevent such an event from happeni...

Following months of massive work, planning and coordination, the April 8 sprinkler system dedication ceremony was accomplished with 200 visitors on hand. NFHC leadership attending included President Coleman, who served as emcee, plus a number of officers, directors, key personnel and staff. The dedication was followed by lunch at the Emmitsburg Sen...

 A memorial tree was planted on April 24 at the National Fire Heritage Center in memory of Jan Gratton, a national leader in public fire education. Jan's family — daughter Laurie Welton, granddaughter Jenny and grandson Frank — traveled from California to help plant the tree. The U.S. Fire Administration's Mary Marchone and Doc Kinny with the ...