Heart of the Community: Passion for the community burns brightly for Fochabers firefighters
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WITH over 80 per cent of Scotland's fire stations manned by retained firefighters, their importance to our communities cannot be understated.
One such station is Fochabers fire station, where the dedicated team combine day jobs with dropping everything when their pagers sound to come to the aid of those in need.
Heart of the Community – a new feature looking to put the spotlight on the great efforts of local groups in towns and villages across Moray and Aberdeenshire – talks to Crew Commander Dave Crawford about the many ways the team at Fochabers contribute to their local community.
Q. How big is the team at Fochabers fire station?
A. We've got nine local crew members plus another one who lives in Insch but works at Baxters and is on call while he's there.
We're always looking to recruit more; the crew are ageing and we could do with two or three more at least. With Covid restrictions easing hopefully we'll be able to get back to holding the likes of open nights and car washes to encourage people to drop by the station and have a chat.
There's now the option for people thinking of signing up to come along to training nights at the station and see if it's for them. They don't go out with the pump but they can do various drills and so on. It's a chance to learn what we do and for potential recruits to decide if it's for them or not rather than going straight into the two-week course at Portlethen.
The job's not just a case of turning up when the pager goes off, there's a lot more to it than that, a lot more commitment.
Q. What are the main benefits of becoming a retained firefighter?
A. Giving something back to the community we live in and helping make that community safer would be the main things, I'd have to say.
There's a great deal of camaraderie and we've a good team spirit, we've had plenty laughs together to help us through the bad times.
If the pump can't go out on a run for whatever reason we feel gutted, it's as if we've let the community down, that we should've been there.
The team here feel really committed to what they're doing. You can see that by the length of service – 20 to 40 years – many of us have. One of our firefighters, Stuart Jenkins, retired last year with 47 years of service. I think that clearly shows the commitment we have to our community.
Becoming a retained firefighter can be a stepping stone to going full-time, but many people prefer to stay with their own jobs and serve the community by becoming a retained firefighter.
Q. What are some of the biggest changes firefighters have witnessed over the last few years?
A. The biggest change would have to be the equipment we use, it's a lot better now than it used to be. For example, we're moving to using non-hydraulic cutting gear, which is much safer. Our PPE has also been improved a lot and there is much more emphasis on crew safety.
The retained/volunteer mantle is changing to an on call basis.
From a professional point of view there is far more training involved, including using computers.
Q. It's not just about firefighting or attending road accidents, is it? There's a strong connection with the community.
A. Yes, very much so, we want to help bring the community together and be part of it outside of callouts. Before Covid we had an emergency services day up at the primary school, a Halloween night, open days, car washes and the Christmas street collections. Money raised from these events goes back in to local charities and good causes.
We also raised money for the installation of life rings at various points along the banks of the River Spey.
None of this would be possible without the public support we get, especially at a time when the cost of living is going up so much.
Hopefully we'll get back to doing all of these soon.
Q. Covid hit just about every facet of life hard. How did it affect the team at Fochabers fire station?
Q. Our training nights stopped when the pandemic hit and what training we were able to do was at home on a computer. We couldn't do hands-on stuff at all and there are some skills you just have to do that way, there's no substitute.
This hit the new recruits a lot harder. Luckily now the restrictions are lifting we have to try and catch up with the training backlog. It's not ideal, of course, but we just have to crack on.
Covid meant we couldn't run exercises like the one we did recently simulating a train accident near Drummuir. They're a lot of work to set up and involve a lot of commitment from the crews, turning out on a Saturday when they could be with their families. However, they provide vital practical experience which was a big miss during the pandemic.
Q. Apart from recovering from the effects of Covid restrictions, what do you see as the other major challenges facing Fochabers fire station?
A. While catching up with Covid is a massive priority, so is both the recruitment and retention of new crew. We really need to have a blend of experience and new recruits on the team.
Mr Crawford added: "Serving our local community is at the heart of everything we do here at Fochabers fire station."
