A TikToker is detailing his reconstruction of an old Nazareth fire truck he found in the desert.
The creator is @tatortrotter, and the premise is simple: he came across a retired ladder truck near the Anza-Borrego area, asked the owner what they were doing with it, and got the straightest possible deal.
“It’s a hunk of junk. It ran last year but we aren’t doing anything with it. If you can get it out of here you can have it.”
That puts the story in the general orbit of Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, which is big enough that a full-size ladder truck can sit on the side of the road without immediately looking like a joke.
The truck is clearly from Nazareth, Pennsylvania, and the comment section helped him confirm the year of 1972. He describes checking under the steering wheel and finding a manufacturing marker that matched what someone who said they drove the truck remembered.
If you want to watch the two posts that set this whole thing off, here they are:
@tatortrotter
I found an abandoned American LaFrance Firetruck in the desert, and I’m going to try to rebuild it. Follow along!
#restoration
#fireengine
♬ original sound – Brendan
@tatortrotterMy 1972 firetruck from Nazareth, Pennsylvania. Learning so much every day!.♬ original sound – Brendan
Once we heard “1972” and “Nazareth,” we started looking around to see if this truck shows up anywhere outside TikTok. A couple things popped up.
First: a 2002 story from The Morning Call about Nazareth replacing its aerial truck. The article says Nazareth Borough Council moved toward replacing Vigilance Hose Company’s 1972 aerial truck, and one quote is doing a lot of work for a piece of municipal news:
“Even just to ride in it is atrocious,” said Councilman Thomas Heckman, describing a test drive.
The Morning Call link is here (subscription may be required): https://www.mcall.com/2002/02/05/nazareth-looks-to-replace-fire-truck/
Second: a community-maintained apparatus roster page for Vigilance Hose Company No. 1 lists a “1972 American LaFrance aerial” and adds one oddly specific note: “Last known location in California.” That is not official documentation, but it lines up neatly with the truck showing up in a California desert restoration series.
Apparatus roster page: https://fire.fandom.com/wiki/Vigilance_Hose_Company_No._1
If you want the official background on the Nazareth department itself, Vigilance has a history page that traces the company’s 1897 organization and the earlier Nazareth fire companies that came before it:
Vigilance history: https://www.vigilancehose.com/content/history/
And if you want a quick “where are we talking about” link for Nazareth, the borough’s own site notes the borough was founded in 1740:
Nazareth borough history: https://www.nazarethboroughpa.com/geninfo_history.html
As for “American LaFrance,” that name shows up all over older fire apparatus for a reason. The company built engines and aerials for generations, and it officially went out of business in 2014, which is partly why seeing one still intact, still getting attention, feels like a minor event.
American LaFrance closure context: https://www.fireengineering.com/fire-apparatus/farewell-to-american-lafrance/
@tatortrotter Let’s take the 1972 ladder fire truck for a drive! It’s been 50 years. #firetruck ♬ original sound – Brendan
None of this proves, beyond any doubt, that the truck in the videos is the exact same 1972 aerial mentioned in 2002. But the year, the department, and the “last known location in California” breadcrumb make it a pretty compelling match for a story that started as “I found a fire truck on the side of the road.”
Either way, it’s now a restoration series, and the internet is doing what it does best: turning an abandoned piece of local infrastructure into a shared research project. Can’t wait to see how it all comes together.
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