Firefighting feature

Paul and Doug Tieman collect tractors. They also collect antique firefighting apparatus.
The piece they have on display this week at the Tri-State Gas Engine and Tractor Association Show at Jay County Fairgrounds is the ideal blend of those two interests.
As the featured tractor at this year’s show, there is no shortage of Internationals. The traditionally red machines on display come in all shapes and sizes, with even a few other colors mixed in.
But the Tiemans’ 1948 International Super A Industrial tractor is the only one that has been modified for firefighting.

Turning tractors into mini firetrucks was the brainchild of a General Motors engineer, who was concerned about safety in Dayton-area plants.
“‘Why can’t I take a small tractor and put some stuff on it and we’ll have something perfect for the plant that can maneuver the aisles and can also do some things outside if we need it to,’” said Doug, relaying what he’s been told of the thoughts of the original designer.
The tractor/firetruck on display at the show this week features a 100-gallon tank and a 300-gallons-per-minute pump. It is equipped with a 150-foot booster reel hose as well as a 150-foot cloth hand line hose.
There are several additional lights, both red and white, and an axe mounted along the side. It is labeled C.H.F.D., having been donated to the Camp Hook Boy Scout facility following its use by GM, which Doug said continued into the 1990s.
It’s a custom piece, as the Tiemans can prove themselves. In addition to the one they’re showing at the fairgrounds this week, they have another at home.
“It’s funny, each tractor is different because each plant and each shop modified it a little bit,” said Doug, 49, noting that the other piece he and his father own has an extra bracket attached to carry pry bars, a large tool box and a few fire extinguishers on the back. “It’s the same concept, but the siren is in a different spot or some of the equipment is in different spots or they added different things to it.”
Firefighting has been in the family since the 1950s, when Paul, now 74 and retired, stumbled into the career.
He was in high school at the time, and a few of his classmates were volunteers for the local department. One day during class an alarm sounded, and the volunteers had no way to get to the scene of the fire. But Paul had a car.
He drove his classmates, got roped into helping fight the fire and never left. He was a volunteer for decades — he worked full-time as a carpenter — and eventually became chief. He and his son both were hired as full-time employees of Miami Township Fire and EMS in Clermont County, Ohio, just east of Cincinnati, in 1984.
The department, which still has a 1932 Chevrolet fire engine as well as a 1951 Studebaker, helped spark their interest in collecting.
Paul and Doug had been trying to acquire the modified firefighting tractors for about a decade when the elder finally found success last year. Three weeks later, Doug got a call and purchased one of his own.
The vehicles are part of a collection of about 17 pieces of antique fire equipment they own, including a hand-drawn hose reel from Montpelier Fire Department. Their newest piece is a 1974 fire engine.
“It took me over 10 years to get this one,” said Paul, pointing to his piece on display in a tent on the east side of the featured tractor display area. “Thea guy that owned it, he would not sell it to me. It ended up I bought it from another guy, and that’s how I got it.
“It’s pretty special,” said Doug.