The Green Bay Firefighters Historic Preservation Foundation acquired two antique Green Bay Metro Fire Department helmets, Aug. 7, 2024. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Two pieces of local firefighting history are being safeguarded, thanks to the Green Bay Firefighters Historic Preservation Foundation.
On Wednesday, the foundation spotlighted its latest acquisitions during an unveiling ceremony at the Neville Public Museum, held next to the “Old Croc” fire engine exhibit.
The two antique Green Bay Metro Fire Department helmets will join the foundation’s collection, which already includes historical tactical gear, alarm boxes, badges and other tools that date back more than 100 years.
One of the new helmets — “Franklin 3” — is dated from 1860-1875. It was provided by Retired Green Bay Metro Fire Captain Chad Hadzima. The second helmet — “Truck 3” — is dated from 1927. It was provided by American Antiques & Jewelry.
David Siegel, retired captain for GBMFD and president of the GBFHPF, authored a book about the early history of the department.
“Once this book was released in 2016, a tremendous number of members of the community, members of the fire department, shared that they had objects from our history. So we started collecting,” Siegel said.
Funding to purchase the antique helmets was provided by the David L. and Rita E. Nelson Family Fund of the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region. However, in the end, it wasn’t needed.
“Captain Hadzima and American Antiques & Jewelry provided these to us when in fact, they could have sold them for a tremendous amount of money on the open market. But they wanted to keep them in Green Bay,” said Siegel.
The Green Bay Firefighters Historic Preservation Foundation is comprised of five board members. Each one is either an active or retired member of the GBMFD.
Right now, the foundation has a temporary exhibit at one of its stations. Siegel said the long-term goal is to create a museum-quality display when a new fire station is built. City officials are currently evaluating that possibility.
“We’re very excited and very proud of our history here in Green Bay and we want to be part of that preservation,” said GBMFD Chief Matthew Knott. “We look forward to acquiring future pieces and then, like David said, putting them on the proper display for the whole community to share.”
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