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Museum
Plains Museum
The Ashburton brigade has one of the most extensive collections of fire appliances among of the volunteer brigades throughout the country.It also has a unique building in which to store them.
In 1975, the Ashburton Railway and Preservation Society came to the brigade with the idea of creating a fire station at the Plains Museum in the Tinwald Domain on Maronan Road.
The brigade accepted the scheme in February 1976 and soon began a job which was to takehours of voluntary labour and involve many of Ashburton’s tradesmen. With help from the Ashburton Master Builders’ Association, fire-fighters worked to build the station.
The brigade demolished the former St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church hall which stood in Havelock Street, opposite the church, and salvaged the large timber floor. It was cut into sections and used not only as flooring in the raised level of the station at the historic village, but also for the walls.
The doors came from the former Burnett Street station and alongside stands the bell tower shifted on to the site in 1982. The station was completed towards the end of 1978.
Housed in the station is a collection of equipment which illustrates the history of the brigade. The wooden yoke and its canvas buckets, on of the earliest fire-fighting devices is there, alongsidea one-man wheelbarrow portable pump. There is the wooden two-wheel cart, which was pulled by two men.
The 142-year old steamer, Pride of Ashburton, is housed here along with a collection of motorised appliances, Gertie – the 1923 Ford V8 and a1938 Chevrolet with a trailer pump. The most recent engine housed in the museum is the F8 Dennis, commissioned in 1958. It was the first appliance witha closed cab which gave protection to fire-fighters from the weather.
The station, maintained by the brigade, houses an important historical collection almost without equal amongst brigade collections nation-wide.
History has also been preserved with the restoration of three silver and 12 brass helmets owned by the brigade. The helmets have been restored by Peter Jentsch, Sydney, Australia and were on display at the 125th anniversary celebrations. Some remain on permanent display at the current station in Burnett Street.
There are plans to return an unusual gift to the brigade to display at the station too. In 1894, the brigade was given a pair of mounted huia birds, which became extinct in New Zealand early this century. The birds were a gift from Mr James, the owner of the Somerset Hotel in appreciation or the brigade’s work quelling a fire in the hotel’s dining room. Since 1995, the birds have been on loan to the Ashburton Museum, continuing to increase in value as examples of this striking bird become more rare.
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