The remarkable history of the Port Chalmers Volunteer Fire Brigade, which has protected the township and West Harbour area for 150 years, is explored in a new exhibition at Port Chalmers Maritime Museum.

Curated by Port Chalmers Historical Society president Shirley Jack, the “Fire Fighting in Port Chalmers” exhibition has opened this week,  in time for this weekend’s Port Chalmers Volunteer Fire Brigade (PCVFB) 150th anniversary celebrations.

The celebrations, which will run from this Friday to Sunday, October 2-4, will include gatherings, a dinner, and a public open day at the Port Chalmers Fire Station this Saturday. 

Located diagonally opposite the Port Chalmers Maritime Museum, in Beach St, the station will be open to visitors from 10am-2pm on Saturday, and restored historic fire appliances from the Fire Brigade Restoration Society will be on hand.

A historic fire appliance will also be parked outside the Port Chalmers Maritime Museum, which will be open and welcoming visitors to the Fire Brigade exhibition.

Miss Jack said preparing the Port Chalmers Volunteer Fire Brigade exhibition had been a challenging, but enjoyable project, which had involved about five months of research.

As she had only been able to source historical information on the brigade through Papers Past in the period up to 1950, the exhibition focused on the earlier years.

"This kind of historical research is fascinating, but you end up with absolute screeds of material, which you have to boil down into a readable narrative,” Miss Jack said.

"I have really enjoyed working on this exhibition, and I hope I have told the story in the best way possible.”

A section of the exhibition on the history of Port Chalmers Volunteer Fire Brigade, curated by Port Chalmers Historical Society president Shirley Jack, which has opened at Port Chalmers Maritime Museum this week. Photo: Brenda Harwood

She organised the material into a series of topics, including the foundations of the brigade, a comprehensive list of fires in Port Chalmers, the difficulties of accessing water for fire fighting, the challenge of dealing with ship fires, the equipment used by the brigade in the early years, and the United Fire Brigades’ Association.

In the days before fire brigades, councils expected citizens to keep buckets of water ready in case of fire.

The first fire brigade in Port Chalmers was the “Naval Brigade”, formed in 1865. The creation of the Port Chalmers reservoir in 1876 enabled the formation of the Volunteer Fire Brigade.

Port Chalmers Volunteer Fire Brigade assembled outside the Fire Station, circa 1890s. Photo: Port Chalmers Maritime Museum Collection

Between 1877 and 1950, the Port Chalmers Volunteer Fire Brigade recorded about 60 fires, many caused by accidents with kerosene lamps, including five fatalities.

Lack of adequate water supply and basic equipment made fighting fires difficult.

An image of the 1919 Port Chalmers Wool Store Fire. Photo: Port Chalmers Maritime Museum Collection

Miss Jack said the subject of ship fires was a fascinating one, as Port Chalmers was a crowded port, and fires aboard wooden ships were a constant danger.

In preparing the exhibition panels, Miss Jack had sterling support from Port Chalmers graphic design and printing firm Digiart.

"Also the Fire Brigade Restoration Society have been brilliant in their support providing old equipment, mannequins and uniforms for the display,” she said.

Port Chalmers Volunteer Fire Brigade outside the Fire Station, circa 1920s. Photo: Port Chalmers Maritime Museum Collection

The Port Chalmers Volunteer Fire Brigade exhibition will continue at Port Chalmers Maritime Museum until the end of December.