It was a chilly 52 degrees outside when more than 100 people showed up at the Consolidated Realty Board of Los Angeles at 8 a.m. for Our Authors Study Club’s annual Black History Bus Tour, a nearly six-hour tour of the historic houses of Sugar Hill, once owned by affluent African-Americans in the early 20th century, and historic points of interest along La Plaza downtown, Leimert Park and Central Avenue.

But by 11 a.m., excitement turned to curiosity when the bus company never showed. Unsure when or if the six scheduled buses would come to pick up the groups of 15, organization president Genevieve Shepherd remained vigilant in her mission to provide an educational experience.

One by one, more than 50 people gathered their belongings and a stranger and carpooled to the African-American Firefighter Museum, 1401 S. Central Ave. for a tour of the second oldest Black fire station in Los Angeles.

The restored facility, housed in Fire Station No. 30, has several original apparatuses — including floor tiles, fire poles and kitchen out-building — and a range of firefighter memorabilia — such as a 1940 Pirsch ladder truck and a 1890 hose wagon, uniforms, badges, helmets, photographs, newspaper articles and other items.

“They gutted the entire inside and put back certain walls and certain builds. … The floor, the poles and the four exterior walls are original. Everything else has been refurbished and restored and brought back in and replicated to give it that 1913 look,” said AAFM president Brent Burton. “Upstairs where the two poles lead into, that was the old dormitory where they slept and in the front is the old recreation room where they had a pool table, there are two offices where the captains had their own dorms and the back was an old locker room, but we kind of rearranged that to make it a separate room to show firefighters from outside of L.A.”

In addition, trained docents as well as retired and active firefighters provided a first-hand look at segregation and discrimination in the Los Angeles City and County fire departments through the stories of “Old Stentorians,” men who banded together for equal rights.

Established in 1913, the station was segregated from 1924 to 1955 after a seven-year battle between the City Council and the station’s acting chief engineer. It closed down as a fire house in 1980, making it the second oldest Black fire station in Los Angeles. Then in 1985 it was named Los Angeles’ Historic-Cultural Monument No. 289. Twelve years later it opened its doors as a museum and has since invited groups in for a remarkable history lesson.

Gwendolyn Randolph, 59, and her 8-year-old grandson Stephen Randolph, showed up at the Consolidated Realty Board at 7:20 a.m. hoping to go on the tour “but unfortunately the buses did not show up so rather than us have a day that didn’t pan out we just decided to do some of the tour on our own with the car. This is our first stop and it’s fabulous,” she said. “The props that they have in this museum also help to make it more visible and viable for them [children] to understand as opposed to just reading [about] it in a book.

“I wanted [my grandson] to be exposed to our history and our culture and some of the struggles we have had as a people and to know that all is not lost and because you’re not treated fairly does not mean you should give up … and to see this museum and the way that it’s preserved to its original form, it’s just breath-taking.”

Stephen, who aspires to one day become a firefighter himself, said the history behind the museum “makes me proud. I don’t know, it’s amazing.”

Christine Nelson, a Black History Bus Tour guide and retired educator, thought she had a wide range of knowledge on the tour sites until she visited the museum.

“I got knowledge that I didn’t know, I just didn’t know all of this,” she said. “It’s phenomenal to think that all these firemen have progressed the way they did and didn’t have the opportunities and were forced to live the way they did. They were doing us a favor,” she said. “It was a sacrifice for them and I’m just grateful to them.”

For Diana Ridley, the chance to visit the site and catch up on her history was an answered prayer.

“I didn’t even know how I was going to get here or anything but I got on my knees and I prayed. I said ‘Lord, just let me get there.’ I didn’t have a dime in my pocket.”

The recovering drug addict’s determination was fueled by a promise she made to change her life around — which meant going back to college and searching for knowledge. After a friend gave her the ride she needed and supplied her with $100 for food and transportation, she made it.

“This was a learning experience and it uplifted me,” she said. “I will leave here with knowledge to pass on.”