chris kelly staff Donald Mulligan, of Little Silver, has been spearheading the movement for a permanent state fire museum that would house antique equipment, a fallen firefighters’ memorial and interactive technology to teach fire safety. At left is an artist’s rendering of the proposed center.

Timeworn and in need of refurbishing, a collection of antique firefighting equipment is tucked away in a Monmouth County warehouse, awaiting a permanent home, according to a firefighting historian.

"We have a couple of amazing pieces of equipment, like an 1858 Valentine & Weeden double-deck hand engine. It’s Philadelphia-style with portraits on the side," said Donald Mulligan.

"Unfortunately, all the stuff is dusty and jammed into storage. When we opened up the hoods, the engines were rusted. They’re all in need of work," said the Little Silver resident.

Mulligan and members of the Tri Counties Fire Association, a group focused on vintage fire equipment, are chomping at the bit to begin the work of preserving the antique hand-drawn models of firefighting apparatus and of refurbishing motorized equipment, but the group lacks a venue.

"Volunteers have the skills; what we don’t have is the space, the building," said Mulligan, acting executive director of FireWorks-USA: The New Jersey State Fire Science Center, a planned firefighting complex that will include a firefighting museum, fallen firefighters memorial, and an interactive fire safety education center.

According to Mulligan, plans for FireWorks-USA call for a 30,000-square-foot museum and memorial to be erected on 14 state-owned acres at Allaire State Park in Wall Township.

Mulligan, senior analyst managing GPS (Global Positioning System) equipment at Fort Monmouth and a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel, said the "spark" for the firefighting complex was a gift of antique firefighting equipment and rare apparatus made to the state in 1974 with the proviso that a museum be built to house the equipment. A site was selected at Allaire and $3 million was allocated by the Legislature, but the funding was withdrawn and plans were set aside.

The project remained dormant for almost a decade until interest in the firefighting museum was revived four years ago among a group of locals who are members of the Tri Counties Fire Association, a chapter of the Society for the Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus in America.

According to Mulligan, the group realized that state funding would not be available and decided to reach out for corporate sponsorship instead.

However, corporations were reluctant to fund a museum project, and the organizers realized the concept had to be expanded.

"When the group approached potential sponsors, we were told, ‘We’d love to give money but we don’t fund museums,’ Mulligan said. "So, the project was expanded to include an educational outreach component."

Program objectives for FireWorks-USA, according to Mulligan, are: teaching safety awareness and accident prevention, preserving New Jersey’s rich fire fighting heritage through restoration and operation of vintage apparatus; commemorating firefighters who died in the line of duty; and encouraging young people to become professional or volunteer firefighters. More information on the project is available at www.http://Fireworks-USA.org

As currently envisioned, FireWorks-USA has three main elements, Mulligan explained.

FireWorks USA: The New Jersey State Fire Science Center will use virtual reality technology to teach fire safety to schoolchildren and families. The center also will simulate the experience of fighting a fire and will have modules that can be rotated and focused on other areas like bike and pedestrian safety.

The education center will include a traveling "FireWorks-FireTruck!" outreach program that will travel to communities throughout the state to build awareness of the program.

Mulligan said projections based on similar fire science centers estimate the center could attract 100,000-150,000 visitors per year and generate some $2 million-4 million in tourism revenue annually.

"There are plenty of fire engine museums, but they’re look-but-don’t-touch," explained Mulligan, who researched interactive educational facilities and science centers.

"There’s lots of proven technology, virtual reality, simulators, all sorts of things that have applications," he said. "We could have an outstanding interactive educational program that kids and families would not only get a kick out of but would come back to because it was so much fun."

A second component is the New Jersey State Fallen Firefighters Memorial that will honor the state’s 700 fallen firefighters.

The design calls for the memorial to be located in the museum entrance plaza, which will be paved with personalized brick pavers. The volunteer committee is selling the brick pavers at $100 apiece to fund the memorial. Primary features are a centerpiece monument and a low, curved stone wall engraved with the names of firefighters who have died in the line of duty.

The Great New Jersey Fire Barn, the third component of the complex, will house a collection of about 25-30 donated and on-loan vintage pieces of apparatus and another 150 items of equipment, tools and uniforms currently stored in a warehouse in Freehold.

"If I had a warehouse I could put the word out to the 700-plus fire departments in the state (about 1,300 fire companies), and many of them would say, ‘Take this historic stuff off our hands so it’s going to be preserved and displayed.’ So much has been lost," said Mulligan, who owns a 1950 Mack Type 95 pumper that he refurbished and takes to local parades and fire community events.

According to Mulligan, changing priorities at modern fire departments have led companies to discard once-prized equipment.

"They don’t have room in their buildings to keep all the old stuff, and a lot of their members of the current generation have little interest in it," he explained.

"I’ve seen a half-dozen fire trucks broken up for scrap because no one had the interest in them, and if we don’t preserve it, it’s gone. It’s the same philosophy people have for preserving buildings."

Plans for the complex include a repair shop with several bays and room for volunteers to work on refurbishing the vintage equipment.

The next step in bringing the project forward is hiring a full-time executive director, he said.

"What we need is a professional who has the time to go and pitch this concept to the corporations," explained Mulligan. "We have a wonderful vision and a very sellable product; what I don’t have is the person to accomplish the fund raising."

Mulligan also is seeking to enlist board members who will help build support for the vision behind Fire Works-USA of promoting fire safety education and preserving New Jersey’s firefighting heritage.

"It started with bucket brigades," he noted. "In Colonial days you were part of the volunteer fire department. It’s fascinating to see how technology evolved. It’s very graphic to see that firefighting went from hand engines to the early horse-drawn engines to the steam fire engine and then to motorized devices and the golden age of fire trucks in the 1920s-’30s.

"Today, fire trucks are very automated, and a single operator can control a lot of things. In the most advanced fire truck today, the firefighter inside the cab has joystick controls for the ladders and turrets."

The modern equipment is a far cry from the days when it took 20 men to operate a hand pumper, he observed.

"It was very labor-intensive. We just don’t appreciate the ‘men of iron and leather’ who did this stuff."