Network News
August 2024
THE 33rd ANNUAL FIRE MUSEUM SEMINAR
“Preserving What Our Visitors Come to See”
A Project of the Fire Museum Network (FMN) & the Houston Fire Museum (HFM)
October 25-27, 2024
Houston, Texas
The 2024 Fire Museum Seminar will be hosted by the Fire Museum Network (FMN) and the Houston Fire Museum, Inc. (HFM), a 501-c-3 educational facility quartered in the 125-year-old and freshly-preserved former Houston Fire Department (HFD) Station No. 7 (a.k.a. “Old 7’s”). The seminar will be held October 25-27 in Downtown and Midtown Houston and includes a field trip to a privately-run fire museum near Waller, Texas, about 45 minutes from HFM.
Plan to travel in by Friday the 25th. If you are driving, you will be happy to know that the host hotel, The Whitehall, is providing rooms for our group for $169 per night plus tax, single or double occupancy, that also includes nightly valet parking (tipping extra). Note full hotel details below. You will get your first visit that evening to the Houston Fire Museum facility just eight blocks from our host hotel where an Open House and Reception should give everyone that feeling of “Houston Hospitality.”
On Saturday the 26th, we plan to visit the Edmonds Fire Museum, a private museum with a spectacular ensemble of HFD antique fire rigs and memorabilia, the vision of its late founder William “Butch” Edmonds, himself a career member of HFD. We plan to pick up some genuine Texas Barbecue for lunch on the return trip as well as visit HFD “Old 6’s,” on Washington Ave. near Downtown, a former HFD firehouse beautifully preserved by owner Tom Hair of Axiom Public Relations.
Sunday the 27th will be presentation day with five speakers lined up to discuss topics including historic firehouse preservation, risk management for museums, exhibit development in the digital age.
Each night will provide ample opportunity to meet old and make new friends who share the same passion for preserving the history of firefighting in America that you do.
For those planning to fly in, Houston has two major airports, Bush Intercontinental (airport code IAH) and Hobby Airport (code HOU). About 20 miles due north of Downtown, Bush is the larger by far, is a hub for United Airlines, but also offers service by American and Delta as well as numerous “discount” airlines. Hobby is about 10 miles southeast of Downtown and is dominated by Southwest Airlines with service as well by American and Delta. Taxis and ride-share vehicles are available at each airport. One-way (airport to our host hotel or vice-versa) fares are generally less than $50 plus tip.
- Back to the hotel, attendees will be able to utilize The Whitehall’s courtesy van which is available for rides and pickups to local restaurants within the Downtown and Midtown areas for the price of a tip to the driver each way. So a huge selection of fantastic meal purveyors is easily within reach and return. HERE IS SOME MORE HOTEL INFORMATION YOU WILL NEED TO KNOW:
Host Hotel is the WHITEHALL HOUSTON HOTEL - 1700 Smith St - Houston TX 77002
- Toll-free hotel number (may book direct this way) 855-318-8945
- Website (or book online) - TheWhitehallHouston.com.
- Give agent or enter online this Group Booking Code: 2410HOUSTONFIRE
- Nightly group rate - $169 + tax (Good Oct 24-28 but nights of Oct 25, 26, and 27 would be needed for full seminar program)
- Rooms offered are either one King or two Queen beds; either are at same price stated above
- Group Rate also includes nightly valet parking for one car per room; additional car is $40/night
- The room block expires 10/4/24 or 3 weeks before start of event, after which rates may/will go higher & not include parking
- ANY room booking can be cancelled up to 48 hours before 3 PM of arrival date (i.e. 3 PM 2 days before check in) so book now with confidence that if you need to cancel, you can up to 2 days before event.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The museum is housed in a 125-year-old building without an elevator. Seminar presentations will be held on the 2nd floor with closed-circuit TV fed to seats on the ground floor for those preferring not to climb the stairs. We will ask you to provide on the Registration Form the likely number who plan NOT to take the stairs during the seminar.
SEMINAR SCHEDULE (times & topics subject to change)
NO apologies here for military time; firefighters have to know it, so should fire museum folks
FRI., OCT. 25
1500 – 1800 Hotel Lobby > REGISTRATION DESK staffed
1530 - 1800 Hotel Lobby > Hotel VAN SHUTTLE for hotel guests to HFM
- HFM’s address is 2403 Milam St. if you prefer taxi or ride-share
1530 - 1630 HFM > HFM’s Board & Staff hosts WELCOME & OPEN HOUSE
- FMN’s Board meets 1600-1800 in private room at HFM
- Guests at HFM may ride Hotel Van back any time it offloads at HFM
- Please remember to TIP driver EACH time you use the Hotel Van
1630 - 1800 HFM hosts “FIREHOUSE RECEPTION” (Board meeting concurrent)
1830 HFM > Last VAN returns to hotel – Dinner (on own) & Networking
SAT., OCT. 26
0700 – 0845 Hotel Restaurant (2nd floor) > Breakfast & Networking (on own)
0730 – 0830 Hotel Lobby > REGISTRATION DESK staffed
0900 – 1000 Charter BUS > to EDMONDS FIRE MUSEUM, WALLER TX
1000 – 1130 Tour: THE EDMONDS FIRE MUSEUM
1145 – 1245 Depart for A SPECIAL TEXAS SHOPPING SPREE
1245 – 1345 LUNCH: TEXAS BARBECUE on the ride back Downtown
1345 – 1445 Tour: HFD “OLD 6’s,” now headquarters of AXIOM Public Relations
1500 – 1630 HFM > FMN Members’ Meeting & “Tell Us About Your Museum”
1630 – 1700 HFM > Hotel VAN SHUTTLE to hotel – Dinner (on own) & Networking
SUN., OCT 27
0700 – 0845 Hotel Restaurant (2nd floor) > Breakfast & Networking (on own)
0830 – 0900 Hotel Lobby > Hotel VAN SHUTTLE assembled guests to HFM
0915 – 1030 HFM > Topic: Preserving “Old 7’s”: The Logistical Challenges
1030 - 1145 HFM > Topic: Preserving “Old 7’s”: The Financing Roller Coaster
1145 – 1300 LUNCH (Catered at HFM)
1300 - 1415 HFM > Topic: Risk Management for Fire Museums
1415 – 1530 HFM > Topic Operating the World’s Largest Fire Museum
1545 - 1700 HFM > Topic: Developing the Exhibit Plan for Fire Museums Today
1700 – 1730 HFM > Hotel VAN SHUTTLE to hotel – Dinner (on own) & Networking
MON., OCT 28
0700 – 1100 Hotel Restaurant (2nd floor) > Breakfast & Networking (on own)
Registration Details are available here:Houston Fire Museum | STORE OPEN, MUSEUM CLOSED
Network News
AUGUST 2024
The following is excerpted from The Bugle, the newsletter of the Western Reserve Fire Museum. We included it with their permission to inform our member museums of some of the issues regarding the precious old apparatus we so dearly love:
Funeral Caisson Out of Service
Memorial Day weekend the funeral caisson was returning from a funeral on I 90 West in heavy holiday traffic. The caisson driver was cut off by a box truck which pulled in front of him and immediately hit its brakes. This caused a multiple vehicle accident, and the front cab of the funeral caisson was seriously damaged when it collided with the steel lift gate on the box truck. The good news is that our driver was not injured nor were any other injuries reported. No citation was issued to our driver, and he was able to drive the caisson back to its storage space. Since that time, we have gone through a roller coaster ride of issues over the repair and the future of the caisson. Member Kenny Rybka arranged to have the caisson evaluated for repair by a professional f ire apparatus repair shop in Akron. Their evaluation was that it was “totaled” from an insurance perspective, and it would cost in excess of $150,000.00 to repair it to its pre-accident condition. T he company said the only effective way to repair the truck was to remove the entire cab, find a “donor” cab, and then replace the original cab with the “donor” cab which would have to be restored. We also talked with several other sources about repair, but the estimates were beyond the Museum’s ability to pay. Another issue was that the stated value of the caisson in our insurance policy was only $15,000.00. This goes back to the early days of the restoration by the many volunteers who worked on the caisson. Even at that low number, the insurance company was not willing to pay the stated value. After much haggling and getting other estimates for the insurance company they finally agreed to pay based on stated value. The problem was that 1980 American LaFrance fire trucks generally do not have very high values. All these problems caused the Board to take a hard look at the operation issues of maintaining a funeral caisson. The fact of the matter is that caisson usage has declined dramatically in the last several years as more people have scaled back funeral costs and cremation has become more common. We also considered replacement with another vehicle but realized that the cost of modifying and repainting another fire engine would be prohibitive. T he Board ultimately decided that the Museum would cease operation of the funeral caisson. This was a difficult and very painful decision since the caisson has served the Museum well over the years and was a source of pride for our members. For those who do not know, the caisson was a major project that took many skilled volunteers several years to complete. The truck was stripped down to bare metal and completely primed, repainted, and re-striped. The truck was modified for caisson duty by removing the tank and the body was specially reinforced. It would be impossible to replicate this project under current circumstances. While arrangements are not yet final, it appears that one of our members intends to purchase the caisson for its salvage value and will personally attempt to restore it. We feel this is the best outcome for what was a very unfortunate accident. T he Museum cannot forget the time and effort volunteers led by Stu Warner put into restoring the caisson which was followed by the time and effort of the Caisson Committee originally led by Danny Hayden who was then succeeded by Dean Murad. Committee members took time out of their schedule to maintain the caisson and take it to many funerals always in spotless condition. Special thanks also go to John Heiman and Jeff Campbell who led the maintenance work on the caisson over the years. The caisson will be missed by all.
Did You Know:
The Fire Museum Network incorporated in 2004 after a previous affiliation as a subcommittee of the IAFC. We are a 505(c)(3) non-profit organization governed by a nine member volunteer board adhering to our Bylaws. You may view our Bylaws on the webpage here:FMN Corporate Bylaws | Fire Museum Network
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Meet the Board
Your Network is governed by a board of nine volunteers, each elected for a three-year term. You can contact them through the email contact form on the website, or directly at their email addresses. We are always looking for new enthusiastic volunteers. As you can see we come from all levels of experience and backgrounds.
Bob Heckman, Texas president@firemuseumnetwork.org
Tom McDonald, Texas TMcfire@aol.com
Bill Hall, Ohio bhallcfd@gmail.com
Bob Vallero, Colorado, denverfireman@hotmail.com
Don Dodd, California fireplug25@sbcglobal.net
Frank Taff, Indiana fmtaff@gmail.com
Jim Stillman, jamesfstillman@gmail.com
Gene Brown, Oklahoma, genebrownfire@gmail.com
Verne Bickers, Ohio, firefighter_ 2515@yahoo.com
This newsletter is intended for our membership, and for all who are interested in preserving and interpreting the history of the fire service. Please forward to your membership, your board members and anyone else who may benefit.
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