It’s not often you see a vintage, blue fire truck driving along the highway. But, when Nest purchased a retired, red fire truck from Craigslist, they reached out to West Coast Customs and made this vibrant vision come to life to draw some serious attention to fire safety.
The now tricked out, blue fire truck is making its way to Home Depot stores across the country for its second year. To celebrate Fire Prevention Month, we sat down with Ryan McClaran, the Nest Fire Truck driver, to hear his views on the campaign from behind the wheel.
What are some of the custom enhancements the team made to the Nest Fire Truck?
There were a lot of man hours put into transforming this truck into a custom hotspot and awareness machine on wheels. The crew at West Coast Customs added a 60-inch flat screen TV on the back outfitted with a full stereo system so we can play our fire safety video during events. We also have a chamber that fills up with smoke and shows you how Nest Protect works during a fire. Beyond the blue paint, the team also enhanced the overall appearance of the truck to include a custom front grill designed to look like the Nest Protect product, new leather seats and hardwood throughout.
Which of these custom features are the crowd favorites?
Overall, the smoke demonstration chambers are a big crowd pleaser. People are in awe of the voice that plays through the speaker and the interaction you can have with Nest Protect. The kids love being in the truck, ringing the bell on the side and playing with the gages and pumps. We also have a huge mat with a house diagram kids can use to point out potential fire hazards, like food left on the stove unattended or too many plugs in the outlet.
What kind of reactions do you get to the blue fire truck when you’re on the road?
There isn’t a place we go where people aren’t excited to see the truck. It’s really difficult to ignore us! From passengers in nearby cars snapping pictures of us on the road to car fanatics coming up to us at gas stations, the uniqueness of the truck always gets people excited and offers us a chance to spread the word on fire safety, even when we’re not stationed at an event.
Tell us the best part of driving this vintage truck across the country.
It has been an amazing experience driving something that generates such energy and awareness around fire safety. I’ve been to more than 30 Home Depot stores with the truck, and each Home Depot store has been a key partner in helping us spread the fire safety message. I believe that we’re really helping save lives by bringing fire safety facts to people in a unique, creative way.
Stay tuned for more on the Nest Fire Truck transformation during West Coast Customs this season, and visit nest.com for more fire safety information.
