Breckenridge Firehouse Museum

The Red, White and Blue Firehouse Museum, also known as the Breckenridge Firehouse Museum, is located at 308 North Main Street in the heart of this quaint mountain town. The Summit County Historical Society has restored the circa-1877 two-story residence that still has two original stained-glass windows.

The entry floor houses the largest exhibit in the museum, a 30-foot long, bright red ladder cart that was pulled by men, and could carry 8 ladders and 7 pike poles. The 1880 vehicle, restored in 1992, carries 12 leather buckets, 4 ladders and a pike pole with which to pull down ceilings and walls. The exhibit also features 2 soda/acid extinguishers, 5 kerosene lanterns, 2 axes and a kerosene torch.

Another exhibit is a restored hose cart and as the wheels turn a bell rings. There is also a wire stoke litter into which bodies were strapped before being set on wooden backboards for transport in carts or trucks. Other displays showcase hats, nozzles, belts, extinguishers and uniforms. The upstairs has an old canvas stretcher with wooden legs, a wooden parade sled and old photos.

Outside the house is clapboarded, covering the outer walls of the framed structure. Inside some of the walls have been left undisturbed so visitors can see the original logs, chinked with smaller logs, and original newspaper wall-coverings. The Breckenridge Firehouse Museum is a good stop for those interested in old fire-fighting equipment and in old structures.

The Red, White and Blue Fire Department is the result of a 1976 merger of three fire companies: the Blue River Hose Company, the Breckenridge Fire Department and the Pioneer Hook and Ladder Fire Company. The department provides fire protection and rescue services to the Upper Blue River Basin, a 138 square mile section of Summit County, Colorado.