Nassau County Firefighters Museum

History:

The Nassau County Firefighters Museum and Education Center started as a dream many years ago when one of the Nassau County fire service academy instructors, Frank Pendl, started to collect fire service memorabilia for the purpose of preserving the tradition of the fire service in Nassau County. He managed to obtain space in the lobby of the Fire Academy to display his collection. This collection grew from extinguishers, helmets and nozzles, to large apparatus. Frank eventually ran out of room. The lobby was getting cramped and losing its aesthetic value. At that time, we all realized we needed a permanent home so all residents from Nassau County could appreciate this collection, not just the firefighters.

At the same time, a Nassau County fire marshal, Andy Stienmuller, who was in charge of public education, also had a dream. His dream was of a public education center where school children and the general public could come and learn about fire safety every day of the year, not just during fire prevention week.

After learning about these two unique individuals, a small group of firefighters got together and lobbied the fire service and the local politicians for support which has evolved into what we have now come to know as The Nassau County Firefighters Museum and Education Center Inc.

This whole process was started in 1995, and in the past ten years the Board of Directors managed to bring together all seventy-one (71) fire departments to become part of this endeavor. Each Fire Department has contributed one thousand dollars for seed money to begin our quest.

Our local politicians over the years have been a tremendous help to us, supporting us not only financially, but also with advice and supplying consultants to guide us along the way.