Words and photos by Streets Dept Contributor Siena Christopherson.

Have you ever been walking by your neighborhood fire station and noticed a work of (un?)ironically cool, fire-related art? You’re not alone. We’ve been noticing them for years. And today, we look at a few in-particular that have caught our eyes and work to understand how these murals ever came to be.

At a station in Manayunk, Engine 12, a mural promoting fire safety was painted by the daughter of their then Lieutenant, Mike Lamlin. 

What started as a fire prevention program quickly turned into some friendly competition between fire stations in the late 1990s. If you look close enough at any of the 64 Philadelphia fire stations, you will most likely see a small mural painted on plywood. And these murals, created to catch your eye, come with life saving advice. 

And as best as we can tell, most of these murals were created in a similar fashion to the Manayunk station. That starts with sourcing an artist from the community and/or the station’s own networks. In the case of their mural, Engine 12’s entire station got to vote on the mural that they would hang outside of their station. Department leadership then approved the artwork and it was presented to the public. 

“Everyone in the station had a hand in this project,” explained Executive Chief Derek Bowmer. Chief Bowmer worked at Manayunk’s Engine 12 when he was early in his firefighting career. He’s worked for the Philadelphia Fire Department now for 20 years and has made his way to Executive Chief.

Philly, which is widely known as the “Mural Capital of the World,” is uniquely covered in art, and today most of our fire stations reflect this cultural identity. Chief Bowman says that out of 64 stations, approximately 40 of those stations have one of these fire prevention murals, whether they have them inside the station or propped outside. 

Because they’re effectively curated by the individuals at each station, all of these fire station murals have their own flare. Some are kind of funny, some are more serious, and some are downright punk. Like seriously, a few of these feel like really cool band T-shirts. They all have their own sensibility and, in our opinion, are all truly iconic.    

Speaking of those individuals, the Fire Department is a complex system. In each station there are three officers, three lieutenants, one captain, and four platoons of firefighters/EMTs (all firefighters are also EMTs). The firefighters work in two-day shifts, working from 8 AM to 8 PM, and sleep at the station. 

At the end of the day it’s more than a place for critical work, our firehouses are community spaces. The doors are always open for everyone. Often times kids will come knocking on the station door and want a photo on the truck or to wear a real firefighter helmet. Something the department has consistently repeated is that their door is always open and that they are there for you, the community. 

Standing as the 5th largest department in the U.S., the Philadelphia Fire Department is aggressive with their response rate. “Our slowest day could be considered a busy day for a normal department,” Chief Bowmer said. The artwork on their stations aims to make those days a bit slower and save lives while doing so.

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