Lisbon's Municipality, through the RSB, owns a remarkable collection of historical objects that traces the evolution of public Fire Services in the city of Lisbon. Unfortunately all those pieces are not gathered together or immediatly available to the public, on account of shortage of space and/or budgetary constraints.

The RSB Museum exists since 1930 and integrates two sections:
- documentation and memorabilia
- fleet of preserved apparatus

For a certain period, the Documentation and Memorabilia Section was on exhibit in the HQ and Main Station building at Av.D.Carlos I. Currently this historical material is scattered waiting for the availability of new facilities.

The existence of a large number of preserved apparatus in Lisbon, including some rare or original pieces of firefighting gear, is one of the best kept secrets in the "fire services community", even in Portugal!

As a matter of fact the RSB fleet of preserved apparatus was never organized for public display as such, being today - as in the past - scattered among several RSB Stations and Municipality Depots. Once or twice a year only a few of these vehicles are brought out for participation in any exhibitions or parades that may concern Lisbon's Fire Services. However, most of the preserved rigs are kept in fairly good conditions, even in full running order, thanks to the commitment and pride of RSB Maintenance personnel.

The remarkable fleet of RSB preserved apparatus integrates currently more than 40 pieces of fire and rescue vehicles on wheels (hand,horse and motor traction), including such pieces of equipment as hand -operated pumps (since1683!); steam pumpers ; pre-Magirus aerials; wheeled stretchers and all kind of motorized rigs since 1905.

Among all these beauties, special reference should be made to:
1 - The Fernandes Ladder : a 1872 truck, designed and built in Lisbon by RSB's Capt.J.Fernandes, and which is said to having been the inspiration for modern Magirus aerials. This wooden ladder performs all 3 basic ladder movements as modern rigs do.
2 - The (Brazier, Zoost and Dion-Bouton) Light Engines (1905 to 1908), which were former tourism cars adapted to"R.I.V" ,as the first RSB motorized pieces of equipment, and certainly a must for the time...
3 - The 1913 (Dietrich) Lighting Unit, with a powerfull searchlight, probably one of the first units of this kind in Europeor - even in the world!
4 - The 1913 (Fiat) Rescue/Squad, specially eqipped to perform rescue of people and animal trapped into wells and trenches in the small farms existing within the city area...
5 - The 1923 Kelly-Springfield , ex-US Army/ex-Portuguese Army Tanker, with chain driven transmission and pump, that saw service at WW I before becoming a fire tender.
6 - All the remaining pieces of the "1930 batch" of motorized vehicles (from an order of 29 units to the german METZ, on MERCEDES chassis, that would turn RSB in a fully motorized Dept.). Among these ,the 1932 Chiefs Car and the 1932 MERCEDES NURBURG First Strike Unit for the Officer on Duty, equipped with radio-communications, are worth a detailed look.
7 - The "Fog-spray Pumper", by DAF, dating from 1955, the first modern urban "first due engine" (and the last one at RSB fleet with outside sitting crew).

All the preserved rigs may probably be inspected ,by any interested person, upon specific request to the Fire Chief but always according to RSB's own convenience.

Historians may also request access to the Fire Service documentation and memorabilia ,owned by the Museum and organized by its Curator.

The book "Do Exercício do Fogo", by Ms. Mónica Almeida, MA (RSB Museum Curator), which was published in 1997 by Lisbon's Municipality ( CML ), on behalf of the Professional Firemen's Association ( ANBP ) concerns mainly RSB's Museum. It contains good color photos, dipicting , among others, interesting details of older RSB rigs. Chances are however that the book will be soon sold out.

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