| This photo is shared with us by Bill Hoeft from the Vernon Fire Department Historical Archives. Truck 1 arrived at the City of Vernon amidst much controversy. This began with a meeting in the early 60s between Chief Husted and Red Willmore at Crown and an order being placed for a Crown Snorkel. Before Crown completed the rig, Chief Husted from Vernon made the determination that Hi-Ranger built a better articulated aerial unit. Chief Husted contacted Crown and requested that the aerial device on their new Crown be changed from a Snorkel to a Hi-Ranger. Crown, being a dealer for Snorkel, refused which resulted in Vernon cancelling the order of the unfinished Crown apparatus. It is unknown at this time where this Crown Snorkel was sold after completion. Vernon went to Van Pelt who was a Hi-Ranger dealer and had their rig built on a Ford C chassis. Due to delays caused by switching manufacturers, Van Pelt could not meet the deadline set by Vernon to finish the rig. It was requested that the rig be shipped in an unfinished state from Van Pelt in Oakdale, California to Crown in Los Angeles. The rig was completed by Crown which consisted of most of the bodywork, paint and emergency equipment. It bore no Crown marking other than the traditional "Crown" corners on the running boards. |
| Created September 27, 2009 |
