Hey everyone, I'm reaching out for some help here.
I am looking for info on the "Holden Combat Unit", a pumper/tanker that was developed by the Newington Volunteer F.D., Inc., in conjunction with the Heil Corporation. Newington had one of the first ones built on a 1947 Mack E series chassis. I know of a couple others, one being Somers, NY.
Unfortunately over the years, any and all info that my department had regarding the design, development, and sales of these rigs has been lost, and the only sales brochure I have ever seen was online, the link sent to me by the former Somers chief.
To give you a little bit of history, from the mid 1930's until 1958, the Newington, NH Vol. FD was privately owned by a man named John Holden, who owned the Atlantic Terminal Sales Corp, a tank farm in Newington. Holden was the self appointed fire chief, and he provided the station, trucks (converted oil trucks, go figure), equipment, and drivers, while the townspeople provided the bulk of the firefighters, and forestry gear. In 1947 we had the big forest fires that swept thru NH and Maine, and Chief Holden was appointed by the governors of both states to be in charge. he used his 5000 gal oil trucks as fire trucks, and had the state police find every tank truck they could and commandeered them for firefighting. After the fires, Holden got together with Hiel and they developed the Holden Combat Unit (makes sense, Holden owned a tank farm and knew oil trucks, and that was what Hiel specialized in), which had tank sizes ranging from 400 gallons to 1000 gallons which was unheard of in that day. He was even written about in Readers Digest and the National Safety News.
How long they built these rigs I don't know, nor do I have a clue how many were actually built or if any remain in existence. I have tried speaking to someone at Hiel Corp, and to say they are less than helpful is an understatement. SO I come to the group here asking for your assistance and to pick the collective brain of the group for any info that may be available.
Thank you.
I am looking for info on the "Holden Combat Unit", a pumper/tanker that was developed by the Newington Volunteer F.D., Inc., in conjunction with the Heil Corporation. Newington had one of the first ones built on a 1947 Mack E series chassis. I know of a couple others, one being Somers, NY.
Unfortunately over the years, any and all info that my department had regarding the design, development, and sales of these rigs has been lost, and the only sales brochure I have ever seen was online, the link sent to me by the former Somers chief.
To give you a little bit of history, from the mid 1930's until 1958, the Newington, NH Vol. FD was privately owned by a man named John Holden, who owned the Atlantic Terminal Sales Corp, a tank farm in Newington. Holden was the self appointed fire chief, and he provided the station, trucks (converted oil trucks, go figure), equipment, and drivers, while the townspeople provided the bulk of the firefighters, and forestry gear. In 1947 we had the big forest fires that swept thru NH and Maine, and Chief Holden was appointed by the governors of both states to be in charge. he used his 5000 gal oil trucks as fire trucks, and had the state police find every tank truck they could and commandeered them for firefighting. After the fires, Holden got together with Hiel and they developed the Holden Combat Unit (makes sense, Holden owned a tank farm and knew oil trucks, and that was what Hiel specialized in), which had tank sizes ranging from 400 gallons to 1000 gallons which was unheard of in that day. He was even written about in Readers Digest and the National Safety News.
How long they built these rigs I don't know, nor do I have a clue how many were actually built or if any remain in existence. I have tried speaking to someone at Hiel Corp, and to say they are less than helpful is an understatement. SO I come to the group here asking for your assistance and to pick the collective brain of the group for any info that may be available.
Thank you.
![[Image: image_zpse73fcc36.jpg]](http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y179/fyreline/image_zpse73fcc36.jpg)
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