VIDEO/PHOTOS: More than a century of history is on display in downtown Tampa. The Tampa Firefighters Museum is growing as Tampa Fire Rescue marks 130 years of service. The museum is in the original downtown fire station, across the street from the current station. “The building that we’re standing in was constructed in 1911,” Bill Wade, a retired Tampa Fire Rescue Captain with the Tampa Firefighters Museum, said. When the downtown headquarters moved across the street, the building sat empty from 1978 to 1995. The building was likely to be demolished, unless something was done with it. “And a group of firefighters went to the mayor at the time, Dick Greco, said. ‘We’d like to create a fire museum,'” Wade said. The former fire station became a time capsule of TFR’s rich history, displaying gear, equipment and other artifacts that were used by firefighters throughout the years.
