Volunteers needed for Kinston fire station museum

Guy Basden takes a silver-colored bugle from a shelf at the Caswell No. 1 Fire Station Museum, puts it to his lips and barks orders in the manner of a fire scene commander from the steam-engine era.

Next, he points out the bugles on firefighters' badges displayed at the museum - the more bugles on your badge, the higher your rank.

"It was adopted as a symbol of rank in the fire department," said Basden, who served with the Kinston Fire Department from 1960 to 1986.

Basden spent one part of his career putting out fires and the remainder preventing them as the city's fire marshal.

His new assignment is to look after the Fire Station Museum in downtown Kinston.

The museum shut down briefly last December to give the aging volunteers who had spent years looking after it some time to relax. It has since been open sporadically to groups who request a tour.

As the recently appointed chairman of the museum, Basden has spent recent months working with the Pride of Kinston and a newly formed advisory board to refurbish the facility - one of the oldest buildings in the city - and draw volunteers to guide visitors through it.

"We've had some response so far," Basden said of potential volunteers. "We're looking for community-minded people that have the time to serve our needs."

Retired Kinston Fire Chief Tony Kelly, who supplied most of the museum artifacts, is serving on that advisory board. He said drawing volunteers is one part of a larger mission to refurbish the museum, preserve the artifacts - many old photos are fading - and finding space for fire department records.

"It's an ambitious project that he's taken on, and I'm glad somebody's stepped up to the plate," Kelly said of Basden.

Kelly, who was part of Kinston's fire service from 1961 to 1998, said he will work with volunteers, educating them on the artifacts so they can educate visitors.

"I lived with this stuff for 37 years, so I know what I'm talking about," he said.

David Anderson can be reached at (252) 559-1077 or danderson@freedomenc.com.

If you go:

What: Caswell No.1 Fire Station Museum

Where: 118 S. Queen St., Kinston (next to the county courthouse)

Artifacts: badges, photos, lifesaving equipment, ladders, nozzles and a 1922 fire truck

To arrange a tour, contact Pride of Kinston at (252) 522-4676