Oklahoma State Firefighters Museum

On July 18, 1966, the Directors of the Oklahoma State Firemen's Museum decided to use the municipal trust method to finance the museum, which at the time, was expected to cost $200,000. On December 14, 1966, the museum board met with the state insurance commissioner at the Will Rogers Memorial Building and was granted final approval for the location of the museum. Groundbreaking for the museum building was performed on April 6, 1967, though contractor bids were accepted up until January 9, 1968. The building was deemed complete on March 1, 1969, and the museum officially opened to the public the next day on March 2, 1969. John Knupple was the first Curator of the Firefighters Museum and served from June 1, 1970, until December 31, 1971. In January 1972, Sam Oruch, an active firefighter for the Oklahoma City Fire Department, became the part-time curator; after Oruch retired as a full-time firefighter, he was hired full-time to care for the museum. Oruch gave tours in the Museum for over 33 years and is the last one to hold the title of curator. Jim Sanders, a veteran of the Bethany, Oklahoma Fire Department, became the museum director in 2004. Mike Billingsley, a retired firefighter from the Nichols Hills Fire Department, was the next to take the title of museum director in September 2006. In 2014, Gene Brown, a retired firefighter from The Village, took over as museum director and still is to this day. ==References==