Emergency services / Old Baltasound fire engine up for sale
A “VERY rare” Bedford fire engine that used to be stationed in Unst is now being auctioned off on eBay.
There have been 23 bids so far and the price stands at £1,950.
The vehicle was made in 1986 and it is thought that it served Baltasound for much for the 1990s.
Ex-watch manager Ninian Johnson told Shetland News the Bedford was one of the first appliances to operate in the isle before being replaced in 2000 by a Ford Transit.
“That appliance couldn’t carry BA [Breathing Apparatus] sets…it would’ve likely been early 2000 that she would have gone because I think we had got our BA sometime earlier in the first half of 2000,” he said.
It was then stationed in Achiltibuie in the Highlands briefly in 2001 whilst a new vehicle was being built, according to Ullapool Museum.
The museum’s website states it was “one of the last machines bought from Fulton and Wylie before [Highland and Islands Fire Brigade] started building their own appliances”.
Little is known about its ownership from that point onwards, but a photo of it was snapped near Lockerbie in 2014.
The Bedford’s current owner in Huddersfield purchased it in 2019. He said it was his intention to restore to the vehicle and drive it to Shetland, but life got in the way.
The seller’s post reads: “I bought it just over four years ago to tidy up and use but for one reason and another I never got around to doing it.
“I’m offering it up for sale now as I don’t see me doing anything with it in the short term and it’s better to let somebody have some fun with it now instead of it just being potentially sat around for a few more years.”
The auction closes on Sunday at 9pm. Find it here.
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