Tom Herman is a collector with an addiction. The career firefighter first got into collecting as a teen.
"I got into collecting fire memorabilia and just kind of never stopped," Herman, now known as an authority on almost all things fire service related, said. "I donât know how this happened but it just kind of morphed over a 40-year time period." The 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.
"In 1976, I bought our first antique fire truck," Herman said. "Right now, we are at about 18. Just think about all the responses that they made to fires, accidents, and what these trucks have seen over the years."
He spends years, in some cases, disassembling, cleaning, and reassembling the old trucks.
