Additional Activities

In addition to the Canteen/Rehab Services, the Association also involves itself in two additional activities: the District of Columbia Fire/EMS museum for which the Association was officially chartered by the District of Columbia government in the late 1940's and presently located on the 3rd floor of Engine Co. 3 after having been transferred from our meeting room at Engine 31; and a quarterly publication appropriately titled The Wagon Pipe.


      DC FIRE & EMS MUSEUM NOW OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC

 
     Fire & EMS Chief Dennis Rubin officially opened the DC Fire & EMS Museum to the general public on January 19, 2010, during a brief ribbon cutting ceremony at the museum, located on the top floor of Engine Co. 3 at 439 New Jersey Avenue NW.
    
The museum, operated by the Friendship Fire Association (FFA), the volunteer branch of the DC Fire & EMS Department, houses the history of the department, dating back to the late 1700’s.  Hundreds of fire-fighting items and related books, papers and pictures are displayed in the 4,000-square foot museum.  The collection includes a hand-made fire bucket once owned by Georgetown resident Francis Scott Key, the author of the Star Spangled Banner.

     The museum now plans to be open six hours a day, Tuesday through Saturday.  Call 202-673-1709 for group appointments or information.
    
     Until now, the museum was not open to the general public, mainly because it lacked a city-required handicapped-accessible elevator.  Recently, a small group of DC community leaders raised $36,000 to purchase the elevator, which the Department then custom-fit into the old hose tower of the historic firehouse, built in 1916,

    Representatives from he major donors, Giant Food, Pepco, PNC Bank, Boston Properties and the Bernice & Bill Gold Charitable Trust, joined Chief Rubin in the ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The Wagon Pipe carries fire service news from D.C.; from the nearby counties of Arlington and Fairfax and the city of Alexandria in Virginia; from the counties of Prince George's and Montgomery in Maryland; and from the city of Baltimore. Copies are distributed to all fire stations and administrative offices in these jurisdictions, and subscriptions are open to all interested individuals at a nominal cost. A subscription blank is available elsewhere in this website.

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Updated 1/20/10