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The Fire Museum Seminar

Attendees of the 2010 Fire Museum Network Seminar in Baltimore MD

It is a mix of formal presentations, informal discussions, and tours of local fire and non-fire museum sites…. It’s educational seminars about both operating a museum and firefighting history…. It’s for those who are just starting a fire museum, and those who have been around a while…. It is a time to learn, and a place to see and hear what dozens of other museums are doing (or perhaps what they should be doing)…. It is a chance for you to share problems and solutions, exchange ideas and information, and compare your organization with others…. It is an opportunity network. It is late nights spent discussing how many steam fire engines are left in the country, new exhibit techniques, or the merits of the latest museum collections database program. In short, it's… great friends, great food, and a great fun!

In 1989 the IAFC sponsored an informal "seminar" for fire museums during their large Fire-Rescue International conference. Nine fire museums, from New York to California, attended that first meeting, and by the end of the two-days, all vowed to come back next year. The annual Fire Museum Seminar was born.

Now more than twenty years later the Fire Museum Network has decided to become an autonomous entity, separated from the IAFC in order to better serve our mission.