VA Fire Memorabilia Collector Owns a Piece with Significant History
Chesterfield County resident Tom Herman has an extensive collection of fire service memorabilia, including a 1925 Mack fire truck he refurbished that responded to the Hindenburg disaster in 1937.
Herman, a retired firefighter, has been collecting memorabilia for more than 40 years and is known as an authority when it comes to items used by firefighters.
A list of Herman's collectibles spans a 120-page inventory and includes badges, helmets, fire alarms and fire extinguishers. It also includes a collection of fire trucks, according to a story by WTVR.
Herman is one of close to 300 members of the Old Dominion Historical Fire Society whose membership owns close to 250 antique fire trucks and are affiliated with The Society For The Preservation and Appreciation of Antique Motor Fire Apparatus.
One truck in Herman’s collection came from the Cross Acres Fire Department in South Carolina, after doing research he was able to determine it was manufactured for the Lakewood Fire Department in New Jersey.
Herman told WTVE, he received and email linking the truck to the 1937 Hindenburg disaster, “This was the very truck that responded to the Hindenburg, and we have all the documentation in our files," he said.
Herman’s Mack fire truck is one of two fire apparatus that responded to the Hindenburg incident believed to still be in existence.
“Yes, we are preserving history, that’s the root of it, but it’s also something you can enjoy along the way," Herman told WTVR. The Hindenburg Mack may soon make its way back to its home in New Jersey.
