The truck is located at the Painted Desert Visitors center along Route 66 and I-40 at Petrified National Park in Arizona.
Eric posted some pics of a modified 1955 Willys fire truck to Facebook the other day. Apparently, the truck was originally stationed at the Chiricahua National Monument, then at the Fort Bowie National Monument, before arriving in 2016 at the Petrified Forest National Park.
Somehow, I have never been to any one of these three national parks. As a boy, we’d go jeeping at the Beverly Sand Dunes and finding petrified wood was no big deal, so I’ve never seen a reason to stop at the Petrified Forest NP. There other two are definitely worth a stop on our next Arizona trip; When will that be? Maybe spring of 2022?.
The truck pictured looks to be a Valley Fire Truck model, white the white truck appears more like a General Fire modified truck.
My guess is the jeep pictured in this National Park sign is a Valley Fire modified truck, while, given the low rear bed, I think the white fire truck was likely originally modified by General Fire into a model they called “The General Commando”. According to the CJ-3B page, the General Commando came in both open top (similar to a Personnel Carrier) and a closed top, more typical of a standard truck.
I could imagine that for the forest service’s use, remove the interior portion of the fire truck bed, then covering it was a practical way to get more utility out of the truck.
Chiricahua NM is fantastic, great place to do some hiking. If you are an old west buff the resting place of Johnny Ringo is nearby along Turkey Creek Canyon. Very Serene spot on private property. They allow access and have a box for donations to keep the site open. Cochise Stronghold is also in the area and worth a side trip. I have lived here in AZ for 40 years and never been to Petrified Wood NP either. Driven by on the way to Moab or New Mexico a dozen times. I want to stop there and the painted desert soon. Happy Easter to all.
The Chiricahua National Monument, Fort Bowie, Cochise Stronghold, Turkey Creek and the Wonderland of Rocks are all in Cochise County, in southeastern Arizona. They are all worth visiting as are several other sites in western Cochise County. Trying to visit them and the Petrified Forest/Painted Desert National Park in Navajo County is difficult to do in a short visit to Arizona as Cochise County and Navajo County are over 300 miles apart by road.
Thanks Colin. I hadn’t yet studied a route nor a time table to tackle them. But, should we decide to explore them, we’ll be taking our time :-). I have definitely learned that the West can be bigger than it looks on maps!
– Dave