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• Halligan Tool Case

The Halligan tool is one of the most versatile and well-known forcible entry tools used by firefighters. The Halligan is unique because, unlike many other tools in the fire service, it was designed specifically for firefighting and made by a firefighter, Chief Hugh Halligan. The forcible entry tools displayed in this case show the development of the Halligan tool. The Halligan'™s predecessors, the Claw and Kelly tools, each had functions necessary for forcible entry, which Chief Halligan combined to make his tool. Two others, the Ziamatic and Pro-Bar tools, are versions of the Halligan used in the fire service today. The original Halligan is no longer produced, but these tools use the original design, with a few modifications.

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Our Permanent Exhibitions

One of the most interesting stories, not told elsewhere in the City, is that of the early days of fire fighting in New York. The museum is privileged to house much of the City's collection of historic firefighting artifacts, memorabilia and equipment dating from as early as the 1650s. Together our collection of documents, firefighting apparatus, fire marks, buckets, trumpets, helmets, rattles, lanterns, uniforms and other artifacts tell a powerful story of early New York, the challenges faced by our ancestors and their ingenuity and skill in preventing and controlling fires in a setting and conditions difficult to imagine today.

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