The preservation movement has been rocked by a disastrous fire in Hampshire on December 8 that destroyed eight restored buses and coaches including the unique Friends of King Alfred Buses (FoKAB) Leyland Olympic and a rare surviving example of a Leyland Titan PD1A with Eastern Coach Works (ECW) body.
The overnight blaze swept through industrial units at a farm in Penton Mewsey, near Andover. FoKAB had occupied one of the units for many years, using it for parking and restoring some of its vehicles and those of its members and fellow preservationists. It is believed to have started in another unit but was well alight by 01:30 and soon spread across the complex.
“The intensity of the fire was such that people living several miles away were woken by exploding fuel tanks and the like,” says FoKAB chairman James Freeman. “This is an appalling disaster and only underlines the importance of FoKAB’s never-ending quest to find a longterm safe home for its collection.”
The Weymann-bodied Olympic, JAA 708, was the only FoKAB vehicle in the building at the time and is the only one of the eight to remain even partly recognisable, but still almost certainly beyond repair. When delivered to King Alfred Moto…
