The Los Angeles County Fire Museum recently opened a gorgeous new museum in Bellflower, California. The museum is home to the vehicles of the 1970s television classic Emergency! Being a mega fan of the show, I have been following the progress of this new museum enterprise for a couple of years and knew I had to make it to the grand opening celebration. The event did not disappoint!
Several blocks of Bellflower Blvd. were closed for the event and filled with contemporary and historic firefighting apparatus. Visitors were treated to a spectacular opening event, which included a horse drawn steam pumper, bag pipers, and a flyover by a Los Angeles County Fire Department helicopter.
We spent most of our day standing in line to meet with the special celebrity guests. Emergency! stars Randolph Mantooth, Kevin Tighe, and Mike Stoker were all in attendance, as well as producer Dennis Donnelly. They graciously met with fans and signed autographs for hours. We arrived an hour early and had to wait in line for four hours. It was totally worth it!
Kevin Tighe signs my poster from 16 magazine.
Visitors to the new museum can see all the major vehicles from the show: The open cab Crown, the Ward LaFrance, and of course Squad 51.
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- Notice the handy talkie!
The vehicles are in pristine condition, and outfitted with many of the small details Emergency! fans and fire history buffs will geek out over, like the radios and handy talkies.
You can also see other pieces from the show’s history including turnouts, toys, and equipment.
Of course the museum isn’t just about Emergency! The museum’s collection includes much, much more. They will be continuing to build new displays in the future.
If you Go
The Museum: Check out the Museum’s Facebook page for current hours.
Eat: We had a late lunch at Ricci’s Italian Deli and Restaurant in Bellflower. Options ranged from calazones and sandwiches to pasta. It was good food and friendly service.
Stay: We stayed about 15 minutes away at the Sheraton Cerritos. It was a comfortable hotel in a nice location next to the Cerritos Center for the Performing Arts and a couple of blocks from a large shopping center.
Transport: We flew into LAX and took Lyft everywhere. It’s an easy option if you don’t want to drive in the LA traffic.
Other Emergency sites: We also visited Station 127. I’ll blog about this next!
Parading with my Emergency! helmet as a kid. I’m Roy.
40 some years later!
Questions? Please drop me a line if you have any questions or just like talking about Emergency!
Check out some of my other Emergency! related posts:
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