Santa Truck
Turlock Fire Incorporated is happy to confirm our Santa Truck will be visiting community neighborhoods once again this Christmas season!
Please refer to the schedule which will be updated online to see when Santa will be headed to your neighborhood! Santa will also do his best to reschedule any visits affected by the rain.
This year, Santa will be visiting us from December 1 – 21. He hopes to drive by your street and wish you a Merry Christmas , but please keep in mind he may not be able to go around every street because of our City’s size. The search box below gives a general idea of the area covered that particular evening. Keep an “ear” out for the sirens and Christmas music in order to catch a glimpse of Santa and his elves. Thank you to the members of Turlock Fire Incorporated for bringing Santa to Turlock!
You may call (209) 669-2121 to hear a special message from Santa.
Click Here to View the Santa Truck Route Map
Note:
Sorry we will not be able to enter any cul-de-sacs, it is hard to turn around with the Santa Truck. If Santa runs into any bad weather, a makeup day will be used for Santa to visit the route that was missed.
Happy Holidays!
For updated information regarding Santa's route, please follow us on: Facebook and Instagram
The Turlock Santa Truck Program
The Turlock Santa truck program was started in the early to mid-1980’s when former fire chief Mark Langley started the program modeled from a similar program in the Sacramento area. The Turlock firefighter’s union L2434 and the Turlock Fire Incorporated own and operate the Santa Truck. The first Turlock Santa Truck was a 1964 Hi Ranger Snorkel Van Pelt that was decorated with Christmas lights. Santa would sit in the bucket at the back. The Snorkel was used for years but was ultimately replaced due to safety of Santa in the bucket and the access issues into neighborhoods. In the late 1980’s a retrofitted 1970 Van Pelt pumper was used as the Santa truck for a few years until the City of Turlock of Turlock donated the 1955 American La France pumper to the Turlock Fire Incorporated. This would become our modern-day Santa truck. Firefighters spent countless hours designing, making and decorating the sleigh and signs that are on the Santa truck. The 1955 American La France pumper has served as the Santa Truck since the early 1990’s.The Santa Truck program operates the whole month of December leading up until Christmas, driving every neighborhood in Turlock spreading Christmas cheer. The 1955 American LaFrance pumper (Santa Truck) has been retrofitted with lights, music, and even a sleigh. Santa and his elves drive slow through neighborhoods playing Christmas music and handing out candy canes. The Santa Truck program has become wildly popular over the years, so much so that families set up outside in the cold waiting for the Santa Truck to drive by on their night. The Santa Truck has the honor of being the Turlock Christmas parades grand finale and main attraction as an estimated 30,000 parade goers wait to see Santa. Many in the community have said that the Christmas parade is not complete without the Santa truck as the finale. In 2008, budget and funding of the parade became a major issue with a down turn in the economy. The Turlock firefighters made a large donation to keep the parade going so that the Santa truck program could continue to spread cheer throughout the community. The Turlock Firefighters L2434 have continued to be a major sponsor of the parade every year since then. The Santa truck program is operated by the off-duty firefighters with assistance from family and friends.
