French fire services operated hundreds of these, some well into the seventies. I personally saw several of them at work at a fire in the famous ( and very large ) forest of Fontainebleau near the city in 1971. They were running back into the town to refill their tanks at hydrants. Conversions varied depending on the department and the firm which did the work, but the vast majority had a tank around 3000 litres and a portable pump between 500 and 1000 LPM, which was still removable but also plumbed in to the tank and a 19 mm hose reel. An open rear facing crew bench seat behind the original cab was also a common feature, and most retained the original front winch, which was also a frequent but not universal feature. In a few cases, it was replaced by a front mounted pump, mainly for pumpers which were intended to be used also for structural firefighting. A few were built with full custom crew cabs and bodywork, but in most cases the modifications were relatively modest, like this typical example. In at least one example, a GMC 6X6 was a French village’s first ever motor fire truck, replacing a horse drawn manual pump!
Added by Rob Johnson on 13 February 2026.