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Meet “Kiri” SF’s Teeny Tiny Japanese Firetruck

This quirky little 1990 Daihatsu fought fires in the mountain town of Kirigamine for 25 years, and has now “retired” to the hills of San Francisco
By - posted 1/28/2023 No Comment

Meet Kiri, a tiny retired 1990 Daihatsu firetruck from Japan. He protected the mountain town of Kirigamine (霧ヶ峰), Japan for 25 years, and now calls SF home.

We reached out to Kiri to find out more about the quirky mini bright red firetruck and why you can spot it on the streets of San Francisco.

“I’m originally from a small mountain town In Nagano prefecture. I served in a local volunteer fire brigade for 25+ years. Most of the time, though, I sat in my cozy fire brigade garage, at the base of a small ski area. Eventually I was retired, and put up for auction in the Japanese wholesale car sales network. (That was very disorienting.) Next thing I knew, I was driving onto a big ship, and a few days later I arrived in California. What a world!

Now I’m just living the life of a retiree. I’m enjoying city life. Sometimes I go to festivals and neighborhood celebrations, and sometimes I go to Safeway and Costco.”

I love to meet San Francisco firefighters and their big fire trucks. They’re very friendly, and always so impressed to see I’m a real fire truck. They laugh and laugh. Actually, we laugh together.”

Follow along with the adventures of Kiri on Instagram.