1949    The building in King Street Nairn, which is used to house the 50' wheeled escape must be vacated immediately. Propose to erect a new building in front of the Fire Station Harbour Street, Nairn. (North Eastern Fire Brigade Annual Report 1949.)

In my last report I made mention that a proposal had been made to erect a new building on the ground in front of the Fire Station, Harbour Street, Nairn, to house the two appliances but this has been turned down by the Scottish Home Department. A deputation from the North Eastern Fire Area Joint Board visited St. Andrew's House and permission was granted to erect a building to house an escape carrying unit which is to replace the obsolete escape at Nairn. I am pleased to report that the building is now nearing completion and will be occupied in the near future. (North Eastern Fire Brigade Annual Report 19450/51)

The new building which was erected on ground in front of the Nairn Fire Station has now been completed and an escape carrier is now housed there. (North Eastern Fire Brigade Annual Report 1951/52.)

With the new brigade structure introduced in the summer of 2003 the 3 Divisions were re-organised into 2 Commands North and South, Nairn was put into South Command. Call signs remained the same.

Nairn had a call sign of A2 in The Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service, this was changed to S34, the new National Call Sign, when the Control at Inverness closed on 6/12/2016 and moved to Dundee.

New Fire Station opened in Nairn

The new £200,000 fire station in Nairn, built to replace the Fishertown premises which are nearly 100 years old, was officially opened this week by Mr John Campbell, chairman of Highland and Islands Fire Board.
Designed by Highland Regional Council and built by A Tulloch and Sons, Nairn, the new building adjacent to the bus station is equipped with two fire appliances, and is staffed by 16 part time firemen led by Station Officer George Ewen.
Since moving into the new premises a fortnight ago the Nairn firefighters-who deal with around 150 fires a year-have already been called out on two occasions.
Guests at the opening included district councillors, representatives of the contractors, and the firemen’s families.
(Inverness and Highland News, Thursday, 9th February,1984. Page 20.)

FIGHTING SHIP FIRES

Concern was also voiced about breathing apparatus which was issued to firemen not being totally suitable for fighting fires on ships. Mr R. Bentley (Shetland) said that he believed that the air tanks capacity of 25 minutes was not sufficient to allow firemen to penetrate the depths of a ship, tackle the fire, and come out again. The Firemaster said that tanks with a capacity of 40 minutes were supplied to units who might be called on to fight ship fires, and he would not consider letting one of his men use breathing apparatus for longer than that period. He revealed that the Brigade were only bound to fight ship fires if the ship was actually up against the quay. He added that, although British ships were all properly equipped to fight fires, some foreign ships were a menace, and safety of his men had first priority, the ship second.

COST OF RADIO CHANGES

On the question of the £400,000 bill forced on the Board by international changes in radio frequencies, the meeting was told that the Scottish Office were prepared to let the Board borrow the money, but would not make a special grant to cover the changes. It was decided to continue to make representations to the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities which represents the interests of all local councils in Scotland, for a special allocation of cash.

HELPING THE ELDERLY

A scheme of home visits by firemen to the elderly, who represent half of all fire deaths, to advise on fire prevention was praised by the Board. The project, which started in Inverness a year ago, is run in co-operation with the Women’s Royal Voluntary Service, who identify those who may be in need of advice through their meals on wheels scheme and house-bound library service. The scheme has been expanded recently to the whole Highland Region and it is hoped to be operating in the Island areas quite soon.
Senior Fire Prevention Officer Gerry Grant explained why the project was aimed specifically at the elderly:— "Basically they seem to have trouble maintaining electrical appliances which may become a fire hazard, and if there is a fire many of them are so infirm that escape is very difficult for them. Of course, the elderly are not the only problem, the very young are also in danger. Between them, young and old form the vast majority of fatalities." Mr Grant added that a third of all fire deaths was caused by bad smoking habits. He also asked people with elderly neighbours to go and offer to check their electric appliances for them.
(Inverness Courier, Friday, 3rd February, 1984. Page 7.)

If you know of any mistakes in this or have any additional information please let me know.