The Historical Museum of the Fire Brigade collects memorabilia, vehicles, equipment, uniforms, documents that tell 200 years of history of the 52nd fire brigade of Milan. It was founded in 1912, by commander Ugo Penné, with the aim of training and educating new recruits. Later it became a place of study and research. The museum survived the 1943 bombardments unscathed and the steam pumps, pulled by horses, were brought back into service to extinguish the fires caused by the incendiary fumes dropped by enemy bombers.
At the end of the Second World War, the collections were expanded and the retired firefighters were involved in the operations, restoring the damaged pieces or rebuilding those that could not be found.
The current structure that houses the museum, renovated until 1998, houses among the most important relics the fire engine Isotta Fraschini dating back to the ’30s and the beautiful fire engine Bianchi s9, along with all the uniforms of the body, from the nineteenth century, to the present day. You can also see: an ambulance towed by hand, the antique respirators to protect yourself from smoke, the transportable steel lung to help the injured during the fires, an antique telephone station that handled emergency calls to the various vehicles available, as well as a telegraph station with a chest of drawers containing the tags of all the streets of Milan and the fastest routes that the vehicles could travel.
