Retiring Thompson Township Fire Chief Paul Robison has led a life of service - 97 years' worth.
"I started fighting fires in 1926, when I was in high school," Robison recalled this week. "In those days, when we had a fire in the area, the older boys could leave school to help put it out. I figured it was a good way to get out of class." Back then, Robison was part of the "bucket brigade" - a long line of men passing buckets of water toward the flames.
"In 1928, Thompson got its first fire truck," Robison said. "It was a used chemical truck, and held two 30-gallon tanks. We had to mix ash and soda with the water to better douse flames. Since the shanty where we kept the truck was unheated, we had to do the mixing by hand in the winter, or else it would freeze. It was a lot of work."
Robison became Thompson's fire chief in 1943.
"Before me, Homer Crandall held the position," Robison said. "The first telephone line went through Crandall Ford, so it made sense for a Crandall to have the job. I was service manager for the garage, so someone just came and got me whenever there was a fire."
In the ensuing years, Robison oversaw many changes in the way fires were managed.
"I accepted the position of fire chief with the provision that the trustees would match whatever funds the department was able to raise for itself through dances, ice cream socials and other events. That way, we were able to upgrade the trucks, and eventually build the fire station," Robison said.
In addition to his fire chief duties, Robison found time to marry and have a family, as well as start the Paul Robison Equipment Co., still in business on the square in Thompson. He also served St. Patrick's Church, assisting with the building when the church relocated to its present site in 1960.
"For a while there, it was almost like I had three jobs," Robison said. "I was very busy. I do hate to be idle, though."
The work has clearly done him good. Spry and handsome at 97, Robison still moves around his office at the Fire Department energetically, lifting bundles, sorting books of handwritten fire records from the decades before computers and unearthing the countless commendations received throughout the years. Hambden Fire Chief Scott Hildenbrand has known Robison for 25 years.
"Paul is an amazing man," Hildenbrand said. "He's an exceptional guy who's dedicated his entire life to the Thompson Fire Department, and will probably keep on doing so. He's still active, he still responds to fires and he even attends all the Geauga County Fire Chiefs Association meetings.
"He always participates at meetings, and keeps up with new things. It's been a privilege to know and work with him. Plus, the guy's in better shape than I am, despite my not being even half his age."
Though due to officially retire from the position of Thompson fire chief at the end of June, Robison expects to continue contributing to the department. "I suppose I've always been fascinated by fire," Robison said. "Not the starting of fires, of course, but the mechanics of them. When I was a boy growing up on our farm on Dewey Road, my father used to have us burn brush, and I was able to study the way flames work - what fuels a fire, what starves it and so on. "The classroom training that firemen get today is all very good, but there's nothing like hands-on experience. That's the key, in my opinion."
Though Robison's son Dan serves as assistant fire chief, no replacement has yet been named.
"The main thing is that the new fire chief be able to work well with the trustees," the elder Robison said.
Republished courtesy The News-Herald
