Museum spotlights the HFD’s 167-year history

It all began with two men who were fired up about history. Retired Honolulu Fire Department Chief Attilio Leonardi and Dennis Lewis, retired captain of Nuuanu Station 25, shared a passion for firehouse anecdotes and memorabilia. More than a decade ago they decided to channel that interest into a project that would benefit the public.

The Fire Department’s $15.5 million headquarters at the corner of Queen and South streets was constructed between 2002 and 2006, during Leonardi’s tenure as chief. While it was being built, he kept an eye on the Kakaako Station 9 adjacent to it.

Dating back to 1928 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980, it is a notable example of the Mission Revival architectural style. After it was replaced in 1973 by a new station on the other side of a shared parking lot, it housed, among other things, a ballet company, a shelter for women and children, and storage space for the Fire Department.

Leonardi envisioned a more appropriate use for the historic building. Largely due to his and Lewis’ efforts, the Honolulu Fire Museum and Education Center opened in September 2015, displaying many items from their collections.

On view are badges, helmets, nozzles and fire extinguishers. There are also sprinklers, water rescue equipment, firetruck bells (which were replaced by sirens in the early 1900s) and photos of some of the first fire stations built after King Kamehameha III established HFD in 1851.

Don’t miss the museum’s pompier ladder used in 1900. This type of ladder was introduced in the United States by Christ Hoell, a German native who immigrated to St. Louis in 1873 at age 27. He had used the ladder while working for the fire department in Elberfeld, Germany, and when he became a firefighter in St. Louis in 1877, he re-created the design and wrote a training manual for it, knowing it could help save lives.

To access upper floors from the exterior of a burning building, firefighters would attach the ladder’s serrated hook to a windowsill. They’d climb the ladder with their equipment, straddle the sill, raise the ladder to the next floor and repeat the process, sans safety lines, until they reached the necessary height.

Another intriguing artifact is the 1903 Gamewell fire alarm box. It is named after John Gamewell, the businessman who bought the rights to market it in 1859 and went on to become its leading manufacturer by the late 1800s.

As in cities across America, Gamewell devices were installed on street corners throughout Hono­lulu. When the box was activated by pulling a lever, a spring-loaded wheel turned and tapped out its identification number via telegraph wire.

Receivers at the fire stations announced the number through bell tones, enabling the box’s location to be pinpointed and the station closest to it to respond. The last Gamewell box in Honolulu was removed in 1973.

A large exhibit focuses on the bombing of Pearl Harbor and other Oahu targets on Dec. 7, 1941. Of the 23 firefighters from HFD’s Central Station 1, Kuakini Station 4 and Kalihi Station 6 who responded to Hickam Airfield’s distress call, three were killed and six were wounded.

All nine men were awarded the Purple Heart — the only civilian firefighters to have received this honor (since 1997 it has been reserved for military personnel). The museum displays two of those Purple Hearts, on loan from the families of Capt. Thomas Macy, who was killed during the attack, and Hoseman John Gilman, who was wounded.

Also of note is a 1941 logbook from Central Station 1, including a detailed handwritten report for Dec. 7, 1941. Computers are now standard HFD equipment, but, in keeping with tradition, daily activities at all of its stations continue to be recorded in logbooks by hand.

The centerpiece of the exhibit is the actual firetruck from Central Station 1 that was at Hickam on the day of the attack. With gleaming paint and brass, it appears, at first glance, to be unscathed. Look closely, however, and you’ll see shrapnel in its sides and bullet holes in its floorboard — a sobering reminder that whenever and wherever calls for help come, firefighters are prepared to put their lives on the line to serve their communities.

Cheryl Chee Tsutsumi is a Honolulu-based freelance writer whose travel features for the Star-Advertiser have won several Society of American Travel Writers awards.