RomanMr Roman, who was born in Bolesławiec but has lived in Canada for many years, wrote to us. Mr Roman informed us about two members of the Polish diaspora who set off on a journey across North America in former Star 266 fire vehicles. (One of these vehicles once belonged to the Bolesławiec State Fire Service). The travellers are accompanied by mechanic Kamil and his girlfriend Ola.
The drivers set out from Florida and drove through Alaska. They briefly visited Vancouver, Canada, where they took part in a Polish community event organised by Mr Roman. Their destination: San Francisco. (Ultimately, however, the journey is supposed to end in... Starachowice, where mechanic Kamil comes from).
The men intend to cover approximately 17,000 kilometres in the Star trucks. Their journey can be followed in real time on the YouTube channel Starem 266 Dookoła Świata. As they write about themselves:
The story of an idea by two crazy professional drivers who decided to bring first one, and then two, Star 266 trucks to America. This is only the beginning; the plan for the first journey is Florida–Alaska 2022. No one knows what will happen next—we will see how everything works out.
And they add:
There is a lot of work ahead of us: bringing in the vehicles, preparations, modifications and repairs, and finally the journey itself. We invite you to follow the story of two iconic Polish vehicles in the United States. YouTube is new to us; for now, we are sharing what we have. In time, we will try to get better at it.