First Due Fire Museum
Vision Statement
Providing Valuable Service to The Community :
It is the First Due Fire Museums vision to provide valuable public fire safety education and fire service history and memorabilia for those who visit from the local area to outside the area including other states.
About Us
The First Museum To Be Known In A Shopping Mall
Well the time has finely come for three area St. Louis County firefighters who have over 85 combined years in the fire service. Eric Kiehl, Steve Arnold and Chester Jones for many years always talked about having a location where fire memorabilia could be displayed and fire safety education could be taught. Steve and Eric both have collected many items related to their profession from the smallest toy fire truck to one 1958 vintage real fire truck.
Chances are if you can think of an item or tool used in the fire service we may have it on display or know someone who will display it.
The Museum will be staffed with over 70 area firefighters on their own time. Each firefighter will sign up to be there on a day that they are off from their fire department. They will explain the equipment that is on display and interact with the children and adults on fire service questions and fire safety tips.
For many years we have been looking for a location for a museum and public fire safety education area. Then we got the idea to contact the new St. Louis Mills which is located right off Hwy 370 and 270. They are letting us use 2400 sq. feet of store space in the neighborhood called the “Circus of Fire” which we think that fits us to a spark.
We display tools of the trade from the 1800s which includes a hand drawn hose cart to helmets from the past years to present, different types of hose, fire hydrants, and on and on and on. The public can touch many of the items and other items will be placed in glass cases. We also have an emergency light display, siren display and a radio headset display, which all ages can operate.
We believe the grand of it all is to see the real 1820 hand drawn hose cart, which was totally refurbished by its owner Rick Paul, a firefighter with Hazelwood. We also have a tip of an aerial ladder that was made for us by Smeal fire apparatus, which free stands like it is flowing water.
