San Diego Firehouse Museum

SDFD has some great history going on here. As a firefighter I found the horse-​drawn pumpers fascinating, but of course the kids just loved sitting in the engineers seat and sounding the bells. The volunteers were super nice and offered plenty of information — one FD hopeful and a first year rook. Definitely worth a stop if you’re in the area!

We live across the street. They rent the place out for parties. They have live bands that go until 11 or 12 at night — CLEARLY VIOLATING NOISE ORDINANCES. Bars and restaurants are even allowed to do this because we pay a ton of rent to live here and don’t want to have to close our doors to hear our television.

On this day I’m thinking of 9÷11÷01, but I’m also reminded of a day more recently in San Diego at a street festival when I needed a moments peace and I saw a firehouse museum. I figured it was all about local firehouses, west coast and so forth.
Within, I didn’t expect to happen upon a ⁹⁄₁₁ memorial but there it was, complete with photos and names of each individual who passed away that day in the line of service. It was both a heartbreaking but triumphant day for our nation. The flag was raised in honor. The flag, half-​mast today. In memory.
I’m trying to be more cognizant of those who put their lives on the line. I’m at a street fest, incidentally visiting a museum because I take my safety for granted. Men and women who I don’t know… stand on the ready to come to my aid. I appreciate that, even if I forget it. I appreciate it because I CAN forget it. I don’t have to worry about it. I’m thankful for that. Especially on this anniversary.
The museum is a tribute to all fire fighters. As well, it holds «ancient» firefighting vehicles, equipment and accessories. There is one engine for the kids to climb upon.
Not sure re: admission fee, gentleman that day told me «go ahead in» and I was happy to contribute when I saw an area for donation. There are quite a few rooms. I’d allow a good hour at least.

My toddler boys, my husband, and I visited the Firehouse Museum this past week. We had a good time sitting on a circa 1936 fire truck (the only truck you can climb on) and wearing the toy fire helmets. There’s a lot of paraphernalia at the museum, including a number of old trucks, uniforms, trophies, equipment, and – my favorite – fire-​fighting grenades. (Who knew?!) There was almost too much to look at and not enough description or curating or something.
Two nice fire-​academy hopefuls were volunteering there. They were available to answer our questions (though they seemed new enough that it wasn’t clear how many questions they’d be able to answer, which is okay, because we needed to spend most of our time keeping our boys from climbing on all but the one fire truck).
Altogether, it was a pleasant place to spend 35 minutes.

Tried to come twice, closed both times despite the sign saying otherwise. There were several other people waiting around to get in as well. Wasted an hour of our time. HIGHLY recommend you call first and make sure it’s open before making the trip. No updated sign, message on the phone, or on the website saying they would not be open. Major disappointment.

AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME!!! I didn’t even know this museum existed and we’ve lived here for 10 years. It’s such a cute and great museum with so much history. There are so many fire trucks and everything related to fire fighting to look at.
We actually used this museum as a venue for our nephew’s 1^st birthday party. Great space, full commercial kitchen, has a projector, audio, and a/​c. The two guys Robert Parr and Sam Tall who worked at the museum helped us from the beginning. There was another guy who volunteered at the museum and he helped us big time with setting up the audio equipment. We got to the museum at 10:30am and stayed until 7pm. Those guys helped with everything. They were amazing!!! They helped set up some of the tables. They cleaned up the floors afterwards by sweeping and mopping. I just cannot stress how great those guys were. They were also very nice, approachable, and helpful. So many friends loved the venue and are planning to hold their future parties there too.
Oh and once you rent out the space, your guests come in without paying the $ 3 admission fee.
HIGHLY RECOMMEND the museum and renting it out for an event!!!

Fun musuem!!! I came by with my nine year old nephew as he’s a huge firefighter fan. And we came by on first Thursday of the month, so admission was free — score! (Admission is normally $ 3, but, hey, free is still nice.)
The museum isn’t huge but has a nice collection of general firefighter history and San Diego firefighter history. There’s several restored fire trucks inside, including one of those that was pulled by a horse. And one truck is exclusively available for climbing on and pretending to drive.
There’s different dedicated sections to badges, helmets, alarms, and extiguishers. I guess earlier type of extinguishers were glass bulbs filled with water — who knew?
In an adjacent room, there’s stories about the first women firefighters in San Diego; apparently, the first women firefighters were hired in the mid-70’s and it did not go well. I read a funny (and slightly disturbing) newspaper article about how, at the time, the firefighters’ wives were mad that the women would be working in close quarters with their husbands; oh, the horror!!! The horror!!!
The museum is housed in a former fire station and, on the day we went, was staffed by a volunteer firefighter; he was super nice and answered my nephew’s many questions. He even encouraged my nephew to ring the alarms.
In total, we spent about an hour, maybe an hour and a half there. On our way out, we bought a short book on the history of the fire station ($ 10) and a SDFD kid’s t-​shirt ($ 13). The book has some interesting history on the Bill Kettner boat, the first ever gas-​powered fire boat, built by San Diego firefighters in the early 20^th century and eventually used by the NYFD and others.
All in all, my nephew and I really enjoyed the museum (and, yes, I freely admit that we’re history nerds).

I’m no expert when it comes to firefighting museums as I’ve only been to one other fire museum which was in San Francisco. I do know that I liked this San Diego museum better mainly because it had more firefighting vehicles that are equipped with wooden ladders. Allow 30 minutes to visit.

Came here on St Paddy’s day… Irish dancers, cool fireman and lots of Irish clad folk. Had breakfast. Loved it

This is a very cool Museum in little Italy to take your children or for adults who are interested in history. They have some very cool old fire trucks and fire fighting equipment. The place is full of historical antiques.
If you are a local teacher, and you are on a walk or study trip in or near Little Italy, this place would be a great stop by because children are free.

Wanna kill 30 – 40 minutes of your time with the kids? This is the perfect place to walk around and have the kids sit in the fire engine and get their pictures taken.
This small old fire station houses antique fire engines and other memorabilia from fire stations across the globe. There is also a little corner dedicated to the fire fighters of 911 from the FDNY which was way cool.
It costs only $ 3/​person and kids are free.

As I walk to the front entry made of cement and metal, I quickly think about my appearance, running my fingers against my soft black skirt. Why didn’t I wear jeans today? Oh well, I’ll just have to freeze for the next hour. Suck it up; my fellow classmate will soon be here.
A young guy is manning the garage door looking entrance way. He is 5’9 and is wearing a black baseball cap, with blue jeans and white sneakers. I see him from across the street, he’s sitting at a small rectangular wooden table, there is a grey safety box located on the left hand corner. He is slouched over in his chair. Once he realizes that I am heading for the museum, he promptly fixes his posture. There is a white colored fire truck with gold trimming behind him. I’ve never seen a white fire truck before, I think to myself.
… Shoot, I forgot my cash. How could I have forgotten, I made sure to set aside that $ 10 dollar bill there last night, so I wouldn’t leave home without it. I even know where I left it, on top of my glossy brown nightstand, squashed under my vanilla candle. I knew they’d probably only take cash. I grin at the attendant while sliding my visa card out of my purse, «you take visa cards right?» «no, we only take cash.» He smiles, expecting me to pay up. I’m instantly stressed out, my hands are still cold and my eyes become lost. My fellow classmate is getting out of his car across the street. I can see him approaching the Museum, clipboard in hand. No time. No time. No time to go to an ATM. GOD, why do I never carry cash on me. Why does this have to happen to me. What am I going to do… «Don’t worry about it» the guy says. He’s caught me off guard, «huh?» I mutter while touching my face. «As long as you don’t tell anyone, I’ll let you in for free.» «Thank you so much. Really though.» I spew out. My classmate arrives eight seconds later. I wonder if he knows I didn’t pay. Do I look like I didn’t pay. What does one that pay’s look like anyhow? Should I say anything? Should I not say anything? Okay. It’s settled, I’ll just keep my mouth shut.