Fire department grabs Guinness Record
By Alyssa Schafer
Underwood Fire Chief Bob Zietz and his 19-year-old son Beau rolled into the Guinness Book of World Records for participating in the 2009 World Fire Truck Parade in Casselton, last weekend. They crossed the parade line in Underwood’s 1949 KB-5 International fire truck, which the department purchased new sixty years ago, Zietz said. The previous record for the largest parade of fire trucks was 159, which was set by a group in Oberdiessbach, Switzerland, in April of 2006. "Until the 160th crossed the parade line, there was tension," said Greg Kempel, chairperson of the parade. "A fire the night before could have really hurt us." All told, 181 fire trucks made it through the two-mile parade route. Fire departments from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Oklahoma participated. Each truck was documented as it made its way through the parade route, and the entire parade was video taped.
