1996? to                           Sub Officer Murray Campbell

2001                                 Honda Pump, Alcan Pump, Stirrup Pump, Hose etc.

?                                        K997NAS        Mercedes 310D/H&IF&RS                    CRV (Wildfires)

1996? to 2005                          Highland and Islands Fire Brigade

2005 to ?                                  Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service

Establishment 2000

Minimum crew required for an incident is 4

Dates to be confirmed as they are conflicting.

Unit formed 1996?

Unit has 10 men.

About 1993 the distillery brought VSA635L a Ford D/HCB Angus Water Tender Ladder from the Dufftown Distillery and gave it to the Auxiliary Unit, but the Highland & Islands Fire Brigade wanted nothing to do with it even though the distillery were willing to pay for the upkeep and it has lain at the side of the distillery ever since deteriorating. It used to get started every so often but there was a flood a few years ago and the machine was under quite a bit of water and has never started since.

The distillery has a Fire Pump building with a featherweight pump plumbed in and the Auxiliary Unit keep their gear in it. They used to be in the shed that used to house the distillery fire pump but it was leaking, so they were allowed to move into the present Fire Pump building.

In the 2002 Report by Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland he said the Brigade could be covered by 95 Units and finance would only be given for those 95. Minginish is one of the 32 units which is now under threat of closure.

In the Integrated Risk Management Planning Draft Review of the 32 'Non Strategic' Units it is recommended that this unit should be maintained adopting the role of a Community Response Unit (CRU). The unit should be provided with a vehicle which in the future will be referred to as a Community Response Vehicle (CRV). The role of the unit should incorporate the ability to respond to forest, moorland and grassfires (wildfires). The unit should be provided with appropriate equipment and training to allow members to effectively contribute to wildfire firefighting. The area within which the unit responds to wildfires should be extended beyond the current unit area and be based upon a wider ranging ‘regional response’ proposal. In this role, the unit may be required to respond to wildfires occurring throughout the Brigade's mainland area. The unit should be provided with appropriate training to allow members to effectively deliver Community Fire Safety education/information. The unit will be classed as Auxiliary support to the Brigade and time worked will be paid accordingly. The unit has attended 51 incidents in the period 1/4/1999 to 31/8/2004. If a dwelling fire occurs the nearest intervention resource is based at Portree, where the Retained personnel are equipped and trained to deal with such incidents. It is estimated that Portree could attend an incident in the Minginish area within a reasonable timescale.

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

On 1st April 2005 along with 7 other Non Mobile Auxiliary Units Minginish was classed as Auxiliary support to the Brigade with a role of Community Response Unit responding to wildfires.

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