Fochabers firefighter Gary honoured for four decades of service
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A FOCHABERS retained firefighter has been honoured for helping keep the local community safe for over 40 years.
Crew Commander Gary Smith (66) was presented with service ribbons marking both 30 and 40 years of service at Fochabers fire station. He had previously been handed certificates to mark these milestones but has now been awarded the ribbons which will be proudly displayed on his uniform.
CC Smith, who is a janitor at Milne's Primary School in the village, said he has thoroughly enjoyed his 45 years with the fire service, all of which have been spent in his native Fochabers.
While the task of being a retained firefighter is not an easy path to follow, often requiring special family occasions and the like to be missed in order to answer the summons of the pager, GC Smith said it was an experience he has never regretted.
He said: "I actually tried to get into the fire service full time before I got into retained but I was unsuccessful.
"I heard that they were looking for people here [at Fochabers fire station] and that was it, I went down and started and have been here since.
"Every time you turn out it's something different, every time the pager goes you don't know what you're going to until you arrive at the station and see what's on the printout.
"We work as a good group; at one point our station was running with over 250 years of service. Those numbers are coming down now as we're getting to the stage some of us will be leaving in the next three or four years.
"We're recruiting at the moment and I'd highly recommend it to anyone. To become fully competent takes three years of training but you can be on the run [active service] after six months or so.
"You're doing something for the community. We're not just fighting fires now, we're a rescue service and go to the likes of road traffic accidents, I've been to plane crashes, I've been to boat incidents and also we get in touch with the public with home fire safety visits and go out and speak to schools."
He went on to reflect on the many changes to the clothing and equipment issued to firefighters since the days when new recruits were handed their oilskin waterproof leggings. These days, he said, firefighters were "very well protected".
One call-out which particularly stuck in his mind was one which occurred quite a distance from Fochabers and even Moray.
CC Smith continued: "We were trained for offshore firefighting and a good few years ago we were called up to Lerwick to a klondyker [an East European factory ship] that was on fire.
"Six of us flew up from Aberdeen on the Friday. We had to climb up a rope ladder on the side of the ship because it wasn't in bay, we were taken out in a wee boat, but the boy in charge of us said that for our safety the klondyker would have to be taken into dock.
"We relieved a crew from Buckie and it was Monday before we got home. We think someone had been smoking down the hold which was full of flat packed cardboard boxes.
"Another big fire that sticks in my mind was the one at Cullen House."
He added that his very first call-out was a fire at the Masonic Hall in Elgin.
CC Smith has seen a number of brigades come and go, initially joining Grampian Fire Service which later became Grampian Fire and Rescue Service before the regional fire services were amalgamated under the nationwide Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
Presenting CC Smith with his service ribbons was Group Commander Davie Hendry.
Paying tribute, GC Hendry said: "It was a pleasure to present these long service awards to Gary on behalf of the SFRS Chief Officer.
"Gary has had a phenomenal contribution to protecting his community in Fochabers and the wider Moray area over the last 40+ years. Not only that, taking time to pass his skills and knowledge over to younger firefighters over the years has contributed to experience for the wider fire service in Moray.
"Being an on-call firefighter the commitment extends to Gary’s family also with many a missed occasion/family time for him to respond to his pager.
"We are always looking to recruit on-call firefighters in the Moray area. If anyone is interested, pop in to the local station or see the SFRS website.”
