"I'm the kind of person who does things on the spur of the moment," said Jones. "A friend and I are on the Fire Department down here in Malad City, Idaho. My wife Wendy and I were at a party at his house one night, and he had a collection of Jim Beam Whiskey decanters. One of these decanters was a replica of a '29 Model-A Ford fire truck. I walked over to his mantle, and pushed on the back bumper, and the thing stood up. I turned to my wife Wendy, and said, 'This is what we're building next.'"
Since Jones' Last Stage West wheelstanding exhibition Stagecoach was already on contract to run the Super Chevy Shows, Ed decided to build a '31 Chevrolet fire truck to run at the events. Jones called Rich Gordsma up in Spokane, Washington, and ran the idea by him. Gordsma and Jones immediately started gathering parts. Three months later, the truck was completed. Jones borrowed the engine combination out of the Last Stage West and installed it in the truck. After testing it unpainted in Spokane, Washington, they came back home, disassembled everything, and painted the entire truck fire-engine red. Jones' old-time fire truck became an instant hit. So much so, some 20 years later, the Outlaw and his Jelly Belly-sponsored wheelstanding hook-and-ladder are still out there, albeit with a few crowd-pleasing improvements.
"Believe it or not, a pair of side-by-side wheelie trucks running down the race track have become sort of passe with the fans in this day and age," said Richard Schroeder. "Today, you have to have some kind of gimmick."
Ed Jones agrees. During his stagecoach wheelie days, the Outlaw invented a header-belching flame show, and incorporated it into his act. Obviously, it really drove the fans crazy. So, why not try it out on the fire engine?
"It's a pretty intricate system," said Jones, "You have a pump, a stand-alone fuel tank, and igniters. I pump a secret mixture of gasoline and special low-volatile chemicals into the exhaust pipes, which provide one heck of a fire show. We've even been known to run a little candy-flavored syrup through the headers so you not only have the sound and the visual impression, but you also get the aroma."
While Ed "Outlaw" Jones is widely credited for inventing the header flame show for wheelstanders, Richard Schroeder has improved on the concept by incorporating a series of flashing red emergency lights and flashing strobe lights into the act. Schroeder says it isn't the driving of the truck at 140-plus mph down the race track on the tailgate that's the hard part, it's the 47 separate controls you have to operate, including the fire system lighting system. He believes it's imperative that he activates each feature just at the right time in order to sequence it correctly. In order to make it all work, he must keep his head on pretty straight. Schroeder compares it to riding a rocking chair strapped onto a keg of dynamite. Something could go wrong at any minute, but then again, that's why they call it show business.