Artifact returned to historic Station Two

     A helmet and badge, circa 1950, was returned to the firefighters of Fort Riley’s historic Station 2 Oct. 4.

     The two items had been in the artifacts collection at the Fort Riley Museums, having been cataloged and stored for years, according to Debbie Clark, museum specialist, 1st Infantry Division Museum.

     “So when we’ve been going through all our stuff, with the move,” she said, “instead of getting it off our database and sending it somewhere else ... I said, ‘Hey the fire department.’”

     Robert Smith, supervisory curator, Fort Riley Museum Complex, said, Clark confirmed via records the items belonged to Fort Riley, though they were not worn by the same person.

     Battalion Chief Wes Hill emphasized the importance of the items.

     “Anytime you can bring a historical piece — a tool, helmet even fire trucks — and bring it back to an agency where it originated from is rewarding,” he said. “It’s a piece of our history. It’s where we came from and where we are now. It’s just a great honor to have that back in our possession.”

     The small assembly of firefighters and museum personnel talked about the design of the leather helmet and badge and how the equipment used today looks different.

     “Obviously, it was a nice, old leather helmet manufactured by Cairns, which has a strong, historical tradition with fire agencies,” Hill said. “Cairns fire helmets have been around for a very long time. They make a very durable leather helmet. Anytime you can find a leather helmet with some age, that you can associate to your department — that’s quite an honor.”

     Smith revealed that the museum is in the process of assembling a firefighting exhibit in the remodeled museum.

     “I’m not sure that you are aware, but we are putting a firefighting exhibit in the 1st ID museum because in the early 90’s they sent the 1st Engineers up to the Piute National (Park) forest fire to help up there,” he said. “We’ve got some Nomex clothing that was given to us, firefighting tools. We are actually putting an exhibit in. The division not only did peace keeping in the 90’s, trained here on Fort Riley but also were sent out on civil (matters).”

     Hill said it will be up to the crews where they would like to display the items, which were placed in a clear plastic case together.

     “Any spot is a good spot because the station is, as a whole, very historical,” he said. “I imagine the crews will pick a nice spot in the open public.”

     Hill said the fire department enjoys sharing old photographs on Facebook and especially enjoys it when someone recognizes a person in those photos.

     “We do publish a lot of old photos through our Facebook site, we do get people reaching out to us saying, ‘hey my grandfather or great-grandfather was a firefighter on Fort Riley at one point,’” he said “They share their stories and even share their old pictures of their loved ones, when they were working with us.”

     Though finding the story of this helmet and badge will be tough, Hill said he relishes the chance to find the connection.

     “This one is going to be tougher, I’ve never seen a unique helmet shield like that one has on it,” he said. “In all the pictures I’ve looked through, I’ve never seen one with that. It would be intriguing to go back and see if I can discover a photo with that (helmet) even.”