Rules help avoid chaos in things both minor and global. In turn they provide peace, security and safety. The Museum team wants your visit to be peaceful, secure and safe. This environment will present an opportunity for all Museum visitors, whether families, apparatus collectors or students of history, to have the expectations of their visit met. So, please help the Museum provide this environment by preparing for your visit and reviewing the following policies:

General Policies

• All visitors must watch the Museum’s quick orientation presentation before they are allowed entry to the Museum. This ensures you understand how to help protect the Museum’s collection during your visit.
• Due to security concerns, as well as the health of the collection in regards to pests, we do not allow large bags in the Museum. That includes any bag bigger than 14 inches. We will gladly provide a small bag for you to carry needed items in during your visit at no charge. Thank you for your cooperation.
• No food or drink of any kind is allowed in the Museum. Unfortunately the Museum’s artifact protection protocols do not allow food or drink to be served or brought into the Museum.
• No running, jumping or horseplay is allowed in the Museum. This is to ensure the well-being of the many one-of-a-kind artifacts in the collection, as well as your safety.
• All visitors must be good Museum citizens: use your inside voice and be considerate of others during your visit. While the Museum wants you to share your thoughts with those who are with you and laugh out loud if so moved, yelling or screaming is not acceptable Museum behavior.

Age limitations for interactives:

The Museum has many interactives, but just like amusement park rides, most of them had to be engineered with a certain size child in mind to be safe. Some interactives have small parts that are not appropriate for small children. The majority of the Museum’s interactives are for visitors 2 to one 100 years of age.

PLEASE NOTE: For the safety of the Museum’s young guests, children must be between 36 and 60 inches tall (3 to 5 feet) to enter the Jr. Firefighter Challenge area. The course is open and available during regular Museum hours, except from 10-noon during Super Saturday events (please see Events for specific dates).

Museum Large Group Policy:

Large groups (10 or more people): The Museum requires large groups to schedule their visit at least three weeks in advance, so that sufficient staff are available. Please call or email the Museum to schedule your large group’s visit. The Museum will refuse entrance to any large group that has not scheduled their visit in advance. All group reservations will be given a reservation number to confirm their visit.

When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping!

The Museum’s gift shop is always open to the public, with no admission fee. Come shop at the Museum and discover a huge selection of items, both firematic and non-firematic, including jewelry, giftware, t-shirts, toys, plush and much, much more!

Methods of payment:

The Museum accepts cash and credit cards ($10 minimum purchase-Visa, Mastercard and Discover) as payment for admission to the Museum and for gift shop purchases.