Satakunta Fire Museum Waluvaara

"Waluvaara", the name of the museum of the Satakunta Emergency Services, is old Rauma dialect, and is based on the fire brigadier song "Palokundlaiste veis", the lyrics of which was written by Hj. Nortamo, who was from Rauma. Translated to mainstream Finnish, Waluvaara means both the hazard of fire just as raging fire itself.

The name underscores the provincial nature of this fire museum situated within the Central Fire Station of Pori.

A Museum Is Not Merely Artefacts, Rather Knowledge, As Well

Beside the artefacts, the exhibition based on photographs and texts serves as essential material which presents the evolution of the fire department in the province from the volunteer fire brigades of tiny villages to the permanent fire services of towns. In this, Waluvaara does differ from lots of other Finnish fire museums. It is not merely a collection of artefacts; rather: it bears an essence of offering knowledge in a clear fashion.

The exhibition builds up through the following themes: Fire Station as the Base of Safety; Prevention of Disasters and Anticipation; Educational Work; Emergency Reported and Alarming the Units; Extinguishing and Firefighting Technology; Ambulance Transport and Rescue First Care; Profession: Firefighter; VFB Operations including the VFB movement's significance in civil society and the cultural history it entails.

The material of the museum has been assembled from different parts of the emergency services' operational scope. The exhibition covers in time the fire and rescue equipment already from the 1800s, a time preceding the establishment of fire brigades, up to the 1980s. Not all of the artefacts of the collection have been displayed, at all, rather in order to favour a clear fashion, narrowing selections, even strict ones, were carried out, leaving a portion of the artefacts in the store. On the other hand, the exhibition can be developed in the future, and what is on display changed. Large hardware such as fire lorries will not fit in the museum spaces. Instead, the old open-cab T-Ford fire car of the Pori Fire Services is on display in the aula adjacent to the entrance.

translated from Finnish to English by Péter Volford