World-touring British fire engine stops by
Singapore
By Sara Grosse | Posted: 23
October 2010 1618 hrs 
Fire engine Martha
SINGAPORE: A 16-year-old British fire engine and its
crew members, which are on a mission to circumnavigate the globe,
are in Singapore after travelling 13,500 miles (21 726.144 km) and
passing through 22 countries.
The project, Follow That Fire Engine, began in London with aims to
raise money for cancer-supporting charities.
The plan is for Martha - the fire engine - to travel 26,000 miles
(41 842.944 km) across the world in nine months, in an attempt to
make it to the Guinness World Record for the longest continuous
trip for a fire engine.
Martha was welcomed by the Singapore Civil Defence Force at the
Central Fire Station.
This is the first time in 100 years that a foreign fire engine has
ridden into Singapore's Central Fire Station.
Shortly after, Shaw Foundation presented them with a cheque to help
their cause for cancer.
Follow That Fire Engine team leader Steve Moore said: "The whole
expedition is in tribute to my father, who was a fire fighter for
35 years.
"We sadly lost him to cancer about a year and a half ago. We came
up with a concept, like a world-record sort of concept, that could
create enough awareness and attention to raise money for the three
charities".
The three charities are Macmillan Cancer Support, The Fire Fighters
Charity and The Roy Castle Lung Cancer Foundation.
Follow That Fire Engine crew member Paul Barham said: "She's put up
with no roads in Mongolia, you know, driving through rivers, (and)
roads in Laos were pretty bumpy.
"She's had three services now but apart from the very, very minor
few bits and pieces, she's been okay".
After departing Singapore, Martha will continue her journey through
Australia and Northern Africa before completing its mission back in
London in April 2011.
"It can go through anything. I do not believe there is another fire
engine in the world that can actually make it around the world," Mr
Moore said.
Martha's journey around the world can be tracked on
followthatfireengine.com.
-CNA/wk