One of the key missions of the Hall of Flame Museum, along with preserving and presenting the history of firefighting and fire service in the Phoenix metro area, has been teaching fire safety, especially to children. Thus, field trips have long been central to what the museum does.
The Hall of Flame prides itself not only on delivering good, practical, usable fire safety knowledge, but on doing so in a fun and entertaining manner that allows children to learn the material and take it seriously without being unnecessarily frightened or overwhelmed.
That said, for the last few years, the Hall of Flame had seen a downturn in field trip visits, particularly from public school children. Some of the reasons for this are obvious, with the pandemic being the clearest example. But even before COVID-19 appeared on the scene, economic factors had limited many school budgets. Field trips became perceived as luxuries.
Fire safety was sometimes delegated to visiting local fire departments, even though these departments also may be struggling with budgetary difficulties of their own and therefore be unable to devote time and personnel to educational programs. Fire safety may at times simply be overlooked altogether in favor of other safety training like school shooting drills.
In light of all this, however, the Hall of Flame is pleased to report it has taken a major step over the last three years toward reclaiming their past success as a school field trip destination. Each year since 2021, they have hosted field trips from every second grade class in the Cartwright School District from September to November. It’s the first time the museum has ever contracted with a whole district as opposed to booking schools piecemeal.
Queen Creek Fire and Medical Department Fire Chief Vance Gray said the department's antique fire truck that was restored over the summer of 2021 came from the Hall of Flame Museum. It made its debut in the annual Queen Creek Holiday Festival and Parade that same year.
"We got it from the Hall of Flame. It was one they had but didn't intend to use for the museum. We made the donation to take possession of it (in July 2021) and our staff began to work on it and now it runs, drives and stops, making it available for town events," Gray said.
The Hall of Flame Museum of Firefighting is located at 6101 E. Van Buren St. in Phoenix, across the street from the Phoenix Zoo.
For more information, visit hallofflame.org.
