California Wildfire Hero Gives Toyota Tundra a ‘Hot’ New Look to Honor Fallen Truck
Toyota gifted Allyn Pierce a brand-new Tundra after his was destroyed while rescuing people during California’s worst wildfire.
Last year, much of Northern California was decimated by the most destructive wildfire in the state’s history, destroying over 153,000 acres and approximately 19,000 structures, and claiming 85 human lives. The "Camp Fire" might’ve made headlines for its tragedy and destruction, but it also gave way to a humble hero and his Toyota Tundra pickup truck from Paradise, California.
Allyn Pierce, a nurse in an Intensive Care Unit at the local hospital risked his life and his Tundra (nicknamed "the Pandra") not once, but twice, to save others by transporting them to safety at the expense of his truck. Originally, Pierce’s hospital set up a temporary emergency triage in the facility’s parking lot, but the fire spread so rapidly that Pierce’s team was forced to relocate the triage. It was in those efforts that Pierce went back and forth in his truck to transport patients away from danger.
Pierce even took to social media during his efforts to get his potentially last words out since he was unsure as to whether or not he'd make it after getting stuck in gridlock from evacuated vehicles. That is when and where Pierce's Tundra sustained heat damage. Thankfully, a bulldozer came to the rescue and cleared a path for Pierce and others to continue driving. It was then that he posted about his truck saving his life and others.
Because of his heroic efforts, Toyota USA gifted Pierce a completely new Tundra, albeit in upgraded TRD Pro specification, to replace the damaged one. But Pierce didn’t end his saga there. Instead of taking the new Tundra and moving on, Pierce went on to give his new Tundra fake “burns” to pay tribute to his original truck.
For this, Pierce teamed up with Rockstar Garage to take his new Tundra TRD Pro to Team + Bullet Liner in Murrieta, California. There, the custom shop flew a paint specialist in from Delaware to complete the task. After sanding down the new truck's exterior, they overlaid it with pickup bedliner material to mimic the look of the old truck's boiled paint. It was then finished by airbrush with a couple shades of brown, accurately completing the look of the burns sustained by his old truck, although without the damaged lights and mirrors.
The new truck, nicknamed "the Pandra Pro," also took on some other modifications for a more badass look. The list of upgrades includes beefier all-terrain tires, a lift kit, new bumpers to accommodate the larger tires, a heavy-duty roof rack, lighting upgrades, and an onboard CO2 tank for reinflating the tires.
h/t: Motor1