2000/2001 Upgraded to BA status.

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

On 1st April 2005 along with 61 other units Rousay was upgraded to a Retained Unit, drilling one night per week and receiving a retaining fee.

Rousay had a call sign of C22 in The Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service, this was changed to V20, the new National Call Sign, when the Control at Inverness closed on 6/12/2016 and moved to Dundee.

Highlands & Islands Fire & Rescue Service
Helping make the Highlands & Islands a safer and better place to live

<PHOTO> The new station

Rousay Fire Station
Opening Ceremony
Saturday 12 February 2011

Deputy Chief Fire Officer’s Welcome 

Guests, friends, colleagues and Mr Kemp, it is my pleasure to welcome you all to the official opening of this Fire Station.
I am sure that you and the community share my satisfaction in seeing a new Fire Station with full Fire & Rescue capability on the island of Rousay.
The Highlands & Islands Fire & Rescue Service is committed to continuous improvement to make our communities safer. It is appropriate for me at this stage to acknowledge the excellent support we receive from the Highland & Islands Fire Board in the provision and distribution of capital investment to support our Service objectives.
The provision of this modern asset will benefit the community and greatly assist the firefighters by providing a suitable focus for training activities, etc.
Although the delivery of the best possible emergency response is the public’s main expectation of the Fire & Rescue Service, I must bring to your attention that the firefighters of Rousay also contribute significantly to preventing emergency incidents by delivering community fire safety advice. A service I would encourage you all to use.
In recent years we have made significant progress in increasing the professionalism of our firefighters, enhancing their capability and asking them to learn new skills. They have met this challenge and today I am proud that we are able to provide them with a station that meets their professional, safety, training and welfare needs. I am confident it will be an important community resource for many years to come.
Thank you everyone for attending and supporting our Service. 

Trevor Johnson
Deputy Chief Fire Officer 

Station Opening Ceremony
•              Orkney District Manager’s Introduction
               Group Manager Stephen Fraser

•              Deputy Chief Fire Officer’s Address
               DCFO Trevor Johnson

•              Official Opening
               Mr William Kemp 

•              Dedication and Prayers
               Rev. Andrea Price 

•              Rousay Officer in Charge’s Response
               Watch Manager Russell Marwick 

Long Service & Good Conduct Medal
•              Recipients
               Crew Manager Robert Mainland
•              Medal Citation
               Station Manager Paul Hounslow
•              Medal Presentations
               DCFO Trevor Johnson 

A Brief History of the Rousay Fire Unit
The history of Rousay Fire Unit stretches back nearly 40 years, to its launch as a Volunteer non-mobile unit in 1972. The type of equipment issued in those days consisted of canvas hose, branches, a hand pump and helmets steel 6. The equipment in those days had to be transported in whoever’s vehicle was available !!!!
Over the years, the unit has occupied various locations on the island from Rousay Processors at the pier through to Billy Kemp’s garage at Frotoft, then to the Fish farm and latterly a farm building on Russell’s farm at Westness.
<PHOTO> One of the old stations
In 1998 the Rousay unit was upgraded from Volunteer non mobile to Auxiliary Breathing Apparatus (BA) status and a light fire appliance (R437 SAS) was provided, capable of carrying the new BA equipment. The unit, as part of a Service wide enhancement was upgraded to full Retained status in April 2005. This saw the gradual introduction of additional advanced rescue equipment giving the unit the capability to deal effectively with road traffic collisions.
Over the years, the unit has attended incident types typical of a remote island location, which have required the crews to respond to a wide range of incidents ranging from pumping out fishing boats to hill fires requiring the use of beaters.
<PHOTO> Trumland House? (R E & W Pictures)
Some of the more notable incidents involving property, which the unit have responded to, include the Trumland House (Grade B listed) fire on 4 April 1985 and more recently Mid Skail on 2 March 2006 on the island of Egilsay, both of these required support from Orkney mainland stations, posing challenging logistical issues for the Service, requiring close liaison with Orkney ferries, in terms of personnel and equipment transfer. 

Rousay Officers in Charge
•              Hugh Mainland
               1972-1979
•              Sinclair Taylor
               1979- 1980
•              Billy Kemp
               1980-2003
•              Russell Marwick
               Jan2003-todate

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