(1943) US army Dodge T214 WC51 1946 converted into fire engine 1947-1966 EDF Electric co. Industrial FD 1966-1990 Fessenheim VFD 1998 Refurbished and kept by the FS as a collector
From the thirties into the seventies it was very common - if not universal - for French fire services to install white walls on their vehicles. Although not quite sure about this example, in many cases the white walls were “homemade” rather than a factory option, as not many manufacturers offered white wall truck tyres. This Dodge was one of many examples of former WWII US military vehicles adopted by French fire services. As mentioned here, these handy 4X4 trucks were used mainly as first responders, but hundreds of bigger 2.5 ton GMC 6X6 trucks left behind by the US forces were also modified to various degrees - and placed into service as both brush pumpers and occasionally as structural pump tankers too in the years immediately following WWII. Several quite different examples are to be found on this site.
These often had quite lengthy service lives; I remember seeing several at work at a fire in the forest of Fontainebleau in 1971, 27 years after D Day!
These often had quite lengthy service lives; I remember seeing several at work at a fire in the forest of Fontainebleau in 1971, 27 years after D Day!
Added by Rob Johnson on 11 August 2026.