Phoenix-based fire museum hosts memorial for 9/11 victims
Sep 11, 2020, 4:35 AM | Updated: 7:36 am
PHOENIX – Those who lost their lives while attempting to save others during the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks are being honored and remembered in Phoenix on Friday.
With almost an acre of fire history exhibits and over 100 restored pieces of fire apparatus on display, the Hall of Flame Museum is hosting a special event dedicated to those fallen on that fateful day.
While honoring those who had fallen, they’re also thanking those who continue to serve in the line of duty today.
“We’re inviting responders of all type – first responders of military, police officers, firefighters, EMS personnel to the Hall of Flame,” Hall of Flame Executive Director Chuck Montgomery told KTAR News 92.3 FM. “Free of charge, they’re getting to have fellowship.”
Located in Papago Park in Phoenix off Van Buren Street and Priest Drive, the Hall of Flame includes artifacts from 9/11, among them a piece of steel from the World Trade Center.
The family-friendly event is not limited to in-person participation. Due to COVID-19, the museum has also posted the memorial video on their website. The museum is practicing proper social distancing and mask use and encourages anyone interested to attend in person.
“We have somewhere in the neighborhood of large pieces of historical firefighting equipment,” Hall of Flame Curator Mark Moorhead said. “We are several centuries worth of firefighting technology and also – the artifacts, the culture, and the tradition of firefighting.”
In 1961, the collection was large enough for an exhibit in a small museum in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, near the Getz summer home.
A few years later, the Hall of Flame moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where it remained until 1970. In that year, the Getz family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, and Mr. Getz decided to move the Hall of Flame as well.
The Hall of Flame opened its current building in 1974, which is near the Phoenix Zoo and Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Hall has since expanded its original single gallery to five exhibit galleries: The National Firefighting Hall of Heroes, the museum store, a theater, a restoration shop, a collection storage building and administrative offices.
The Hall’s current size is 70,000 square feet, with 35,000 square feet of exhibit galleries. The collection has grown to over 130 wheeled pieces and thousands of smaller artifacts.
