Old Flames!

Linda Sue, me, Greg, and David

8-2-14:  Greg/Linda Sue, Hubs/Me planned our day today around historical firehouses in Wichita. First stop was an early lunch at Jet BBQ and then on to the Kansas Firefighters Museum.

Jet BBQ is housed in the 1928 Engine House #8

beautiful building

and we could play dress-up as we ate

doesn't everyone wear firefighter helmets when they eat bbq?

The bbq was delish.  And a little different.  Linda Sue and I had the "Dave".  It was brisket with beans on top and hot links on top of that.  And thank goodness we were in a fire house cuz those hot links were HOT!
I needed a fire extinguisher!

We walked around outside a bit before going into the museum

The Kansas Firefighters Museum is in Engine House No. 6.  It's loaded with memorabilia and beautifully restored trucks.  It was the last horse-drawn station in Wichita.  By 1918, Wichita had become the first all-mechanized fire dept in the USA and the 2nd in the world. The memorials outside gave us pause to appreciate the service of another group of America's heroes.  I also couldn't help but think of high school friend, Rick Holder, who is a Texarkana firefighter battling cancer back home.  Prayers for Ricky.

Greg noticed a couple of bagworms on one of the memorials.  He "extinguished" them.

front of the 1909 Engine House No. 6

lots of action through those double doors over the years

a pic of this engine house when horses took the "wagons" to fires

ready and waiting back in the day

David, Greg, and Linda Sue as we're waiting for the doors to be unlocked

Love this girl!

our first tour guide was a former Wichita fire chief and a WWII vet

Linda Sue getting some more history for us

1909 Seagrave horse - drawn chemical and hose wagon 

Armstrong Harness with Tom and Dick ready to be hitched up

Our guide mentioned, it sometimes took 10 minutes or longer to hitch up the horses when they got a call. 10 minutes can be a pretty devastating time lapse when something is on fire.  So the Armstrong Harness was invented. As you can see in the pic above, it just "snapped" down over the horses and they were ready to go.

mud pick for the hooves

Because the horses had to stand on the wooden floors for so long waiting on a call, their hooves had to be packed with wet clay once a month.  The mud picks were used to remove the dried clay.

this 1921 truck donated by Garden City, KS had a hand crank siren -- and it works well today! It was the captain's job to sit in the passenger seat and ring the bell

The beautifully restored 1921 American LaFranc Firetruck. It carried a chemical tank and 1.000 ft of hose.

goldleaf painting was done by hand and a pencil eraser was used to give it the textured look

it can be used today in firefighters' funerals - the coffin can be carried in the back 

They continued to use this LeFranc Pumper after the department became fully mechanized. When horses were no longer available they simply hitched it to an old fire truck.

Notice the "net"

See "Wichita" engraved in the Pumper purchased by the WFD in 1909?  

photo of the Pumper in action 

Somehow it escaped WWII's need for scrap metal

the Gamewell system was the "technology" used to ring the bells at the needed fire houses

Thanks goodness there was plexiglass at the top of this firepole, otherwise......

waterlines in Wichita used to be made out of cypress with wrought iron bands around them -- and there is still one underground behind the museum

According to David's dad, who used to work for the Wichita Water Dept., these cypress water lines were in high demand any time they were replaced by modern piping.

spotlight

I loved the metal ceilings and wooden floors in this old bldg

My man

another fire wagon from back in the day

the workings of the Gamewell bell system

technology before technology was cool

a fire that was contained in the clock tower of what is now the Sedgwick Co Museum downtown

salesman's kit for the carbon - tet grenades

they had many different styles and shapes of these grenades

bells and lights

Fogging Nozzle

I never knew there were so many different kinds of nozzles -- and this is only a few

badges donated by firefighters

where the on-duty firefighters rested

yet, were always ready

some more of the cypress water lines

a little of the history of those water lines

this hat was totally leather

heroes' hats

3 of my fave Wichitans remembering some of the past fires of their city

This museum was most impressive.  The 2 tour guides were as well.  I mentioned the WWII vet who was a retired Wichita chief.  The upstairs guide was a retired Sedgwick County chief.  I asked them which page they were on in the Firefighters Calendar they were selling in the gift shop.  The WWII vet said he was on page 13.  LOL.

Mac (David's dad) enjoyed looking at these pics and told us about visiting Engine House No. 6 when it was still operational. Upstairs they had a kitchen where they served some of the best (and hottest) chili he's had.

We all really enjoyed our day learning about and reliving some of the history of Wichita's "old flames".  The USA is blessed to have not only heroes who protect us overseas, but our hometown heroes who serve to protect us right here!

Much Love,

Mr. January, Molly Williams, and Sparky