Firefighting Memorabilia, From Crown Coaches to Cairns Helmets
By Maribeth Keane and Brad Quinn
— I started collecting firefighting memorabilia in the 1960s around the time I became a volunteer fireman here in Orange County. My great grandfather was a fire chief in Massachusetts, so I guess it’s in my blood. After we moved from Massachusetts to California in the ’60s, I could hear from my house the volunteer fire department’s siren going off several times a week. That created an interest in firefighting, too.
Eventually, I was hired by the California Department of Forestry in San...