SALEM – A native of Prairie City is promoting the creation of a state museum in the Willamette Valley to showcase historic equipment and tell the story of both wildland and structure firefighting.

Shirley Bennett Tormey, curator of the Salem-based Oregon Fire Service Museum organization, said she didn’t grow up in Prairie City, “but I’ve always loved that part of the state.”

She’s looking for help statewide, including Grant County, to fund the project.

The nonprofit museum has a Kickstarter campaign to raise money online to be able to lease property at Antique Powerland, a collection of museums north of Salem in Brooks, for the museum.

The goal is to raise $50,000 by May 28.

The collection includes over 15 historic fire trucks and other apparatus dating back to hand and horse-drawn eras. Currently, the collection is dispersed in warehouses and private barns and is not accessible to the public.

The Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign is located at http://kck.st/1k4ak3P.