Knaresborough man raises money to send fire engine to Ukraine

Bob Frendt, 73, has previously delivered medical aid to Ukraine

A man has raised £20,000 to buy a fire engine for a city in Ukraine after its vehicles were taken for the war effort.

Bob Frendt from Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, has previously delivered medical aid to the city of Volodymyr.

But after he heard residents were left with no fire engines because of the war, the 73-year-old was inspired to raise funds to buy a new appliance.

When he purchased the fire engine, a company in East Yorkshire donated a second vehicle to be sent to Ukraine.

Mr Frendt, a former lorry driver, has already made deliveries to the city in the north-west of the country, including a 40-tonne trailer of medical aid, a double-decker coach to be used as a triage unit and learning equipment for a school.

He said on one recent visit the mayor had asked him if he "happened to have a fire engine" available.

"The central government took the fire engines from all these towns at the beginning of the war to protect Kyiv and other big towns where all the heritage was," Mr Frendt told BBC Radio York.

"I asked what happened if they got a fire and he said, 'we just stand and watch it because we can't do anything else'."

'Appalling' situation

He said he was "appalled" by the situation but doubted he would be able to raise enough money to buy a fire engine.

Mr Frendt said he was later introduced to the wife of the first Ukrainian man to die when his tank was blown up in the war.

"His widow is 32 with two young children and they live on the sixth floor.

"I asked what will happen if you have a fire or a missile strike [on the building]? She said 'we will die because we can't get out'. So that spurred me on. This is appalling."

He successfully raised enough to buy a fire engine, with support from manufacturer Angloco Limited which he said gave him a "big discount" on the appliance.

A £10,000 donation was also made by a man who wanted to help the appeal in memory of his mother.

The fire engine has been named Joyce in her honour.

Mr Frendt said chemical firm Croda, which has sites in East Yorkshire, donated a second fire engine when he put in his order with a company that manufactures the vehicles.

It will take him four days to drive the emergency response vehicle to Volodymyr.

He said they were "specialist" fire engines and that the new vehicle would have a 105ft (32m) ladder - which he knew would be able to reach the family on the sixth floor of a block of flats.