Dallas Firefighter's Museum holds fundraising festival for improvements

DALLAS - The Dallas Firefighters Museum has decades of memories, including classic fire vehicles on display, photos of firefighters battling blazes, and more.

To the men and women who have fought fires, like Dallas Fire-Rescue’s Jeff Francis, the job is a calling.

"God put me in this job. I’m happy just when I’m helping others and when I’m doing hard work. This covers both of them," Francis said.

While there’s plenty of history at the museum, they’re raising money to make it better.

"We want it to be a premiere fire museum across the nation that people want to come and see," said Sherrie Wilson, with the Dallas Fire Museum.

In 1977, Wilson became Dallas Fire-Rescue’s first female firefighter/paramedic.

"I did it for 35 years. I loved it," she said.

She now works for the museum.

This entire weekend, they’re hosting a festival at Community Beer Company.

"We’re celebrating 150 years of the fire department, 50 years of our museum, and 50 years of EMS," Wilson explained.

Firefighters are competing in events, but there’s more, and proceeds go to the museum.

They want to add to its collection, but also remodel after water damage from flooding in August. They believe it’s time for a makeover.

RELATED: Dallas Firefighter Museum reopens after flood causes damage

The non-profit runs on donations, and they said they’ve recently raised $2 million.

"We’ve got a big capital campaign going on where we’re trying to raise $10 million," Wilson said.

It’s a lofty goal, but firefighters with so many stories to tell hope it can be a place where future generations learn fire safety and history.