Ex-Wimborne firefighter has collection of 180 fire helmets

Simon Hilliam, who served as a firefighter at Wimborne Fire Station between 1987 and 2002, has collected over 180 leather, brass, and compressed cork firefighting helmets which he keeps in his Bournemouth home.

Simon said: "There are some people in the firefighting service who collect branches and a number of people have full sized fire engines. Why not helmets?"

The family-man told the Daily Echo how his fascination for all things fire began at a young age. He said: “When you’re a kid you like lorries, cars, or things like that. Mum and dad said I used to get excited when I saw the fire engine.

“We used to live in central Bournemouth, so we weren’t far from the fire station on Holdenhurst road.

“We then moved to Wimborne, and at the time Wimborne were crying out for retained fire crew. So, I joined, and I was issued with my first helmet.”

Simon’s unique collection began to grow as he sourced helmets from online, auctions, charity shops and traders.

He said: “It’s about getting them and preserving them. It’s shame when you see them fall apart.”

The collection is home to a particularly special helmet used in a 1960 blaze in Glasgow. Simon said: “There was a massive fire in a bonded warehouse. The Glasgow fire brigade and Glasgow salvage workers were in attendance. It exploded and killed 13 firemen and 5 salvage workers.

“The helmet belonged to the officer in charge. He didn’t die but all of his crew died.

“It’s a great shame that his family didn’t want to hang on to this helmet and it ended up in an auction.”

Although he has now retired from the fire service, Simon continues to build his collection and checks online for helmets every day.

He said: "It's a passion."

“But they're getting very difficult to collect now. Ebay has ruined collecting to an extent I suppose because it’s just pushed the price up of the helmets so much.

“The scarcity does make it exciting.”