The Hall’s present size is 70,000 square feet, with 35,000 square feet of exhibit galleries. The collection has grown to over 130 wheeled pieces and thousands of smaller artifacts.
It was started in 1961 the collection was large enough for exhibit in a small museum in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, near the Getz summer home.
A few years later, the Hall of Flame moved to Kenosha, Wisconsin, where it remained until 1970. In that year the Getz family moved to Scottsdale, Arizona, and Mr. Getz decided to move the Hall of Flame as well.
In 1974 the Hall of Flame opened its present building in Phoenix’s Papago Park, adjacent to the Phoenix Zoo and Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
The Hall has grown from its original single gallery to five exhibit galleries, the National Firefighting Hall of Heroes, the museum store, a theater, a restoration shop, a collection storage building, and administrative offices.
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