On April 10, 1940 Fire Station #7 opened the doors to its new firehouse at 201 Chicon St. in East Austin. Station 7′s territory of fire protection actually dates back to the mid 1880′s. In 1916, when the Austin Fire Department transitioned from a volunteer fire department to a municipal fire department all the fire stations were renumbered several times. Finally, in the early 1920′s the current fire station numbering practice became permanent. (more…)

This year’s annual Austin Fire Museum and ESPADA (Emergency Services Pipes and Drums Assoc.) San Jacinto Day Celebration will be held on Saturday, April 17 at the Waterford House Austin. The San Jacinto Celebration also includes the annual Austin Fire Department Awards Ceremony. The awards are presented to Austin firefighters for acts of rescue, commendation, and community service performed in 2009. The highlight of this year’s awards ceremony will be a posthumous Medal of Honor awarded to Engine 6 Firefighter James T. Glass who died of injuries sustained at a fire on July 23, 1916.

Tickets are 30.00 each for AFD Museum Members and 35.00 each for non-members. This includes dinner, an open bar, and live entertainment featuring the GUY FORSYTH BAND. People wishing to sign up as AFD Museum members will also receive the 30.00 ticket price. In order to receive the member price, tickets must be purchased in person from any one of our ticket sales volunteer representatives. Full price tickets may be sold right here using Paypal.

In keeping with tradition, there will be a silent auction featuring many great gifts, items, and services with the proceeds benefiting ESPADA.

A very special thank you to Siddon’s Fire Apparatus for being our Underwriter for this event!

The newest artifact purchased/recovered by the Austin Fire Museum is this South Austin Fire Company #5 badge. This style of badge is consistent with many of the badges created for the Austin Fire Department fire companies during the end of the Austin volunteer era between 1900-1916.

South Austin Fire Company #5 was organized in 1895 and was located at 1315 South Congress Ave. Their company motto was “To the Rescue” and their territory consisted of all of the area south of the Colorado River.

A special thanks to Austin Fire Capt. David Leonard (Quint 19 B-shift) for bringing the sale of this irreplaceable piece of Austin Fire Department history to our attention so that we could be in a position to purchase it. Thanks again Dave! (more…)