Mark Allan rumbles into view perched behind the wheel of a 24-year-old fire engine.
He is meeting us at Huntly Fire Station, where the local mechanic works as a retained firefighter.
But pretty soon, he will be driving it all the way from his hometown to the Ukraine border – providing a vital resource after months of Russian troops seeing the vehicles there as “big red targets”.
While many may baulk at such a journey, it will be the second time Mark has visited since the invasion.
He first went there with the Scottish Emergency Rescue Association (Sera) just weeks after Putin’s troops launched their barbaric campaign.
Now Mark is tinkering with a 1998 fire engine to get the next delivery ready.
The vehicle was used in Tonypandy, and donated to Sera when it was retired.
Mark drove from Aberdeenshire to Edinburgh to collect it, and has been getting it cleaned up while performing “a few little repairs”.
Mark Allan on why Ukraine trips matter
Recently, he received a reminder of just how important the charity’s work is, when images emerged showing one of their engines at the scene of a mall which had been bombed.
Mark said: “It’s not often we see them, but somebody always spots one if it’s in news footage.
“They are seen as big red targets over in Ukraine, so it shows how badly needed they are to those crews.”
And in the months since his last effort, he has been raising thousands towards Sera’s work.
A car wash at the station and various drives in the town have helped add to the charity’s coffers.
The Huntly FC board member has even struck up a bond with a Ukrainian family now living in the town, including arranging a VIP trip to Christie Park.
What’s next as Ukraine trip looms?
On September 15, he and two others will take it in shifts to drive the fire engine to the borderline at Lviv.
It will be packed with essential supplies and equipment.
One final finishing touch will be adding new Ukraine vinyl where crests for the South Wales Fire Service were once emblazoned on the side.
For safety reasons he won’t be staying to help train crews there, with the area still known as a “danger zone”.
But that is something Mark hopes to do in the future, should conditions allow.
Anyone who wants to donate can transfer money to the Huntly Fire Service Community Fund, with the sort code 826511 and account number 40275687. The reference is “SERA Ukraine”.
Read all about Mark’s last trip here:
‘We could hear gunfire’: Huntly fireman’s ‘heartbreak’ at watching women and children flee Ukraine
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