Kirkby Stephen charity helping to fight fires in Bulgaria (From The Westmorland Gazette)

Kirkby Stephen charity helping to fight fires in Bulgaria

9:40am Thursday 25th March 2010 in

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AN Upper Eden charity is sending equipment and aid to Bulgaria tomorrow on a fire engine.

The tender will be displayed in Kirkby Stephen’s Market Square for a few hours before it heads to Kameno, near the Black Sea coast.

Alan and Mo Willis, who run the charity Balkan Aid, have got together £5,750 for the trip including a £5,500 donation from an anonymous source.

The money will be used to help pay for diesel for the engine, legal costs, and for return flights for the firemen who are driving it to the Balkans.

The fire engine has been provided by Suffolk Fire Service, which donates old trucks to Florian – a charity that specialises in providing equipment and training to improve firefighting worldwide.

It will include medical supplies, firemen’s helmets, and cutters known as the “jaws of life”.

“We spend a lot of time over there helping with old people’s homes and one of the times we were there we saw a fire engine,” said Mrs Willis.

“It was 50-years-old and had a wooden ladder on the top.

“When we got talking to the firemen they said it took about an hour to get to the furthest village, if the engine even started.

“Their breathing apparatus also consisted of what looked like a single World War Two gas mask. We said we thought they deserved better.”

Three members of Florian will be driving the truck from Kirkby Stephen to Bulgaria – a three-and-a-half day journey.

After setting off tomorrow, they will be spending the rest of next week training firefighters in the EU country.

Mr and Mrs Willis will join them in Bulgaria when they fly out on Tuesday, March 30.

“I think the people who’ve donated have been absolutely fantastic,” said Mrs Willis.

“It’s wonderful there are still people around to do things like that for us, especially with money being tight because of the economic situation.”

If you wish to donate to Balkan Aid then call Mr and Mrs Willis’s daughter, Sandy Lancaster, on 017683-72760.