Clear Lake Fire Museum

About Us

Relive the history of firefighting when you visit the Clear Lake Fire Museum. This unique building, built over a period between 1978 and 1986 was inspired and built by members of our community and the Clear Lake Volunteer Fire Department.

This museum was designed and built to resemble a fire station from the early 1900s and is home to some of Clear Lake's earliest firefighting equipment. Also housed in the museum are photographs, written records, private collections of noteworthy events in the city's history, collections of firefighting toys, and antique firefighting tools.

The main floor of the museum includes a classroom used for public fire prevention education programs and small group meetings, and an office for records storage. The basement level of the Fire Museum is used by the Volunteer Firefighters as a training classroom and includes a kitchen and meeting room.

A focal point of the Clear Lake Fire Museum is an 1883 hand drawn hose cart originally purchased by the City of Clear Lake and restored by members of the department in 1974. Another feature and the pride of the department is the 1924 Ahrens-Fox pumper truck. The ?Fox? was purchased by Clear Lake in 1923 and has served the city until placed into reserve status in 1974. It is exercised regularly to maintain the fire pump and mechanical components in working order. The ?Fox? is widely regarded as one of the premier fire apparatus of its day.

Located to the south of the Fire Museum is a special memorial for all Clear Lake volunteer fire fighters paved in brick and lined with red fire hydrants.