Sure, you can buy a used fire truck, but you can’t pretend to be a firefighter when you’re not. You especially can’t make up a fake fire department and use it to register vehicles, gain access to restricted areas, and other activities that Steve Farzam is accused of doing.
Numerous law enforcement agencies raided Farzam’s home in Brentwood, California last week, reports ABC7. Among the numerous finds was a 1986 Pierce fire truck with fire damage and covered in ash. It had a California exempt license plate, typically reserved for government agencies, and registered to the fictitious Santa Muerte Fire Department. Farzam is charged with entering restricted areas of the Palisades Fire using fake credentials, claiming to be an arson investigator. Other charges include assaulting a first responder, carrying a loaded unregistered handgun in a vehicle, and discharging a laser at an aircraft.
ABC7 caught evidence of the laser charge on video, as its own helicopter was one of the targets along with law enforcement and commercial aircraft. Prosecutors used this footage not only to document the laser strike but also to identify the vehicle from which the laser came, visible in the video as ABC7 tracked it. The license plate traced back to a car that Farzam’s hotel had rented, which led officials to make the connection to Farzam himself. He faces a total of 28 charges, 23 of which are felonies, and has pleaded not guilty. Farzam is being held without bail.
What is Santa Muerte?
Although the fire truck was registered to the Santa Muerte Fire Department, no such entity exists. There is also no municipality of Santa Muerte. It does have a website. The phone number listed there is active, and the automated attendant identifies as the Santa Muerte Fire Department. However, the street address listed in El Centro, California, is really a strip mall, not a fire station. Domain registrant information for the website is private.
FireRescue1 reports that this is not the first time officials have heard of this fake fire department. In July 2023, Andrew De Boer was arrested for false imprisonment and impersonating a law enforcement officer, using a vehicle marked with Santa Muerte Fire Department decals. It is unclear whether there is any connection between De Boer and Farzam.
Fans of “Breaking Bad” (which had some of the best cars on television at the time) may remember the Salamanca twins crawling to a shrine of Santa Muerte, worshipping, and leaving a picture of Heisenberg as an offering. Santa Muerte, which literally translates to “Saint death,” or more eloquently “Our Lady of the Holy Death,” is a Mexican folk saint with about 10 million followers. It’s certainly not a name I can imagine any life-saving service, such as a fire department, choosing to associate itself with. Perhaps that’s the irony here since it blends nicely with numerous California towns and cities with similar Spanish names.
