There were six divisions (A,B,C,D,E, and F) Each Division had a Senior Divisional Officer as Divisional Commander. In 1995 the six divisions were rearranged into four commands, Central, East, North and West. Central and West having an Assistant Firemaster as Commander and the other two Senior Divisional Officers as Commander.

Headquarters

Bothwell Road, HAMILTON ML3 0EA

Divisional Headquarters

1975 to 1995?

Firemasters

Senior Officers

At December 1975 these were the Senior Officers in the Brigade. A month previous Assistant Firemaster Peter J. McGill retired, I don't know which Asst. Fmr. below replaced him.

At April 2004 these were the Senior Officers in the Brigade.

Also on the Management Team  were Eileen Baird Director of Finance and Graham Haugh Director of Personnel and Development.

Management Team July 2005

Command Commanders July 2005

Ten Areas (formed October 2005)

Some of the Headquarters will change in the future once premises have been set up. e.g. Renfrewshire & Inverclyde will move into premises in the Command and Control Centre at Johnstone in about a year.

On the 8th of June 2005 Glasgow's George Square was the scene to say farewell to Strathclyde Fire Brigade and welcome Strathclyde Fire and Rescue (note no Service at the end). This was to officially launch Strathclyde Fire and Rescue and to celebrate thirty years of Strathclyde Fire Brigade.

At 00-00hrs on Friday the 30th September 2005 Strathclyde Fire and Rescue officially changed from four Commands to ten Areas to give the brigade better association with the twelve councils that Strathclyde Fire and Rescue cover. Previously the Commands had to deal with more than one Council and some of the Councils had to deal with more than one Command, now each Council will only have to deal with one Area and each area will only need to deal with one or two Councils. At the same time the station codes also changed to reflect the ten new Areas.

Each Area will have an Establishment of 1 Area Manager, 2 Group Managers B, 3 Group Managers A, 1 Watch Manager A (Staff Officer) and 1 Crew Manager (Training) at Area Headquarters except Argyll and Bute which will have 5 Group Managers A and 2 Crew Managers (Training) and North and South Ayrshire which will have 4 Group Managers A and 2 Crew Managers (Training) due to the number of Retained and Volunteer Units.

Management Team 2010

1st November 2010 Corporate Management Team

The Final Corporate Management Team March 2013

Rank to Role

There are 113 Fire fighting units which run 170 appliances of which 121 are water Tender Ladders, 30 are Special appliances and 19 are Volunteer Support Units.
The largest station is D01 Ayr, which has 2 wholetime Pumps, 1 wholetime Hydraulic Platform, 1 wholetime Road Rescue Unit, 1 retained Pump and 1 retained All Terrain Vehicle. The smallest unit is a Non mobile Volunteer Unit which has a wooden garden hut with hose and small pump.

Staffing and Appliances

The establishment at the various types of stations (per watch at wholetime stations, where there are four watches) is as follows:-

A Volunteer Unit consists of 1 Volunteer Leader, 1 Volunteer with additional responsibilities and 8 Volunteers.

2005

Establishment March 2013

Stations

New Stations built by Strathclyde Fire Brigade

NEWS

1/4/2013      Strathclyde Fire and Rescue ceased to exist today as a separate Service and along with Dumfries and Galloway became the West Hub of the new Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. Also today role titles changed from Commander back to Manager in line with the rest of the Service (Watch Manager etc.).

28/3/2013    Today saw Chief Officer Brian Sweeny perform his final official duty as Chief Officer of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue when he attended the 53rd Memorial Service for the Cheapside Street Disaster at The Glasgow Necropolis, which was attended by Chief Fire Officer Alistair Hay of the soon to be formed Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Senior Officers of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, The Rt Hon Lord Provost of Glasgow Councillor Sadie Docherty and members of the present and future Fire Boards.

26/3/2013    The refurbished Castlemilk Community Fire Station was re-dedicated today. This was Chief Officer Sweeney's penultimate duty before the Service is disbanded on the 31/3/2013.

25/1/2013    SFR's new UAILL Training Centre at Cambuslang was Officially Opened today by Councillor Joe Lowe, Convener of The Board of Strathclyde Fire & Rescue.

23/1/2013    The Water Rescue boats have moved to new berths on the Clyde at Kelvin Harbour and The City of Glasgow College from the berth at the pontoon at the foot of York Street beside the Casino. Both Berths have a new Coastworker boat (St Mungo 1 and 2) and a Pioner boat.

11/12/2012    Kilwinning Fire Station was Rededicated today after a major refurbishment and is now designated as a Community Fire Station. It now also accommodates a Forestry Unit and the Services Major Incident Command Unit.

16/8/2012    Tayside Fire and Rescue's Acting Chief Officer Alasdair Hay was today announced as the first Chief Officer for the new single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

18/7/2012    The Non Mobile Volunteer Units at Balemartine and St Catherines are no longer operational, I have still to find out the dates they were disbanded.

16/6/2012    Watch Commander William (Willie) Hume, Officer in Charge of Tobermory Retained Fire Station has been awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours List for services rendered.

25/4/2012    The Corporate Management Team have approved an increase in the Establishment at Kilsyth from ten to fourteen in order to service the EISU.

19/3/2012    The Line Rescue Unit based at East Kilbride Community Fire Station went on the run today at 10am.

6/2/2012    A major refurbishment starts today at Castlemilk Community Fire Station the second phase of which will see a second floor being built on top of the accommodation section of the station.

31/12/2011    In the Queen's New Year's Honours List two members of staff have been awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal. Temporary Group Commander Cameron Black, for his work around the world in reducing Road Fatalities and Watch Commander David Boyd, Officer in Charge at Kilsyth Community Fire Station for distinguished service. In his time in charge of the Unit it has achieved appliance availability of 99.43%.

Dec 2011 Lochranza Volunteer Unit becomes the first to get a full size appliance in the form of a Scania Series 4 Rescue Pump Ladder and also the first to get a 13.5 Lacon ladder.

Dec 2011    Any new bay doors will now be silver, as red fades to quickly and the doors have to be re painted on a regular basis.

19/12/2011    The Incident Research and Investigation Section have moved from Hamilton to Yorkhill after being based there for ten years. A section of Yorkhill Station has been converted into a base for them a programme which took two months.

14/10/2011    Strathclyde Fire & Rescue is utilising state of the art technology to enhance their Service by introducing ‘dynamic mobilising’ to all SFR appliances.
SFR is the only service in Scotland - and one of only three in the UK - to utilise the system, which uses satellite GPS technology to track the location of appliances and allows pumps and resources to be allocated to incidents closest to them. This cuts down response times and enhances service efficiency.
The introduction of dynamic mobilising is the culmination of a two year project and again puts SFR at the forefront of firefighting in the 21st century. It also exemplifies their progressive philosophy of using the latest technology to strengthen and enhance their service for the whole of Strathclyde.

14/10/2011    After a number of years at Hamilton, the Incident Research and Investigation Section (IRIS) will soon be moving to Yorkhill Community Fire Station. Work will commence shortly at Yorkhill, with a completion date scheduled for early December 2011.
The move has been made possible by the successful conclusion of the latest two year Fire Cadet programme, which was based at Yorkhill and saw 17 cadets graduate to become wholetime firefighters, with one joining SFR workshops.
The move to Yorkhill heralds the start of a Best Value Review of IRIS, which is kicking off with a stakeholder analysis survey to which all relevant staff are invited to respond. An online survey on the Service's Intranet will help IRIS focus on key priorities and provide suggestions on how the Section can move things forward in partnership with all stakeholders.

30/9/2011    Assistant Chief Officer Andrew Shuttleworth who was the Training Centre Project Manager after returning from secondment to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Advisory Unit retired today. Temporary Area Commander John Joyce will be taking over the Training Centre Project for the foreseeable future.

2/9/2011    The New Community Fire Station at Clydesmill was Officially opened today at 11am by Chief Officer Brian Sweeney and the Convener of the Fire Board Councillor Brian Wallace.

17/6/2011    Strathclyde Fire & Rescue will mark the 10th anniversary of the unveiling of the Citizen Firefighter statue in Gordon Street. The Citizen Firefighter is a bronze sculpture by famous Scottish sculptor Kenny Hunter and is a tribute to all firefighters past and present who have served in Strathclyde Fire & Rescue. To celebrate the occasion, a number of events will take place throughout the day including:
A display of vehicles in front of the station which will allow the public to see the remarkable progress made in terms of firefighting equipment over the last 10 years.
A visit by a number of Glasgow schoolchildren who will turn 10 on or around the same date as the Citizen Firefighter.
A variety of information stalls set up within the main concourse of the station offering amongst other things, home fire safety advice.

1/6/2011      Automatic Vehicle Location System installed in all 233 light fleet vehicles is operational as of today. The Trackyou system is fully operational in fleet cars, vans, lorries, spare appliances and 4x4 vehicles. This is in order to manage the fleet efficiently and securely.

30/5/2011    The first turnout for Johnstone Retained's Aerial Ladder Platform was this evening to a fire in the in the derelict building Ivy Cottage, 77 Main Road, Ferguslie in Paisley when the Officer in Charge of the initial attendance requested an aerial appliance for use as a water tower.

29/3/2011    Parkhead and Cambuslang Fire Stations closed today and some crew and appliances moved to the new Fire Station at Clydesmill which has the Call Sign P05.

24/3/2011    Parkhead Fire Station is having an Open Day from 10am to 2pm for staff who served at the station.

30/1/2011    East Kilbride Fire Station will be 50 years old today. A rededication Ceremony will be held in the station at 1pm on Monday 31st January 2011.

20/1/2011    At this meeting postponed from 9/12/2010 the Chief Officer will propose that, as the cuts will not be as severe as first predicted, the temporary amendment to reduce the uniformed establishment the will be cut to only include items a and c. (See 14/10/2010). The reduction in crewing of Aerial Rescue Platform appliances was reluctantly proposed by the Chief Officer as a last resort in response to the original anticipated level of level of efficiencies.

1/1/2011    The remaining five areas and the Operational Support Centre (Control Room) moved from the four watch system to the five group one today. All operational staff are now on the five group system.

31/12/2010    In the New Year's Honours List Area Commander David Smith, Deputy Director of Community Safety, was awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal.

8/12/2010    It is recommended that the Board approve the relocation of one Rescue Pump Ladder from Yorkhill to Knightswood at its postponed meeting (should have been 9th December, postponed due to weather) as the six month trial has been a success.

18/11/2010    Volunteer Firefighters on Luing become the first volunteer unit to be part of the Argyll Islands Emergency Rescue Plan. Under the plan the volunteers lay out a temporary landing site for the helicopter that is going to do the patient evacuation. The patient is looked after by the island's First Responder team and when the helicopter lands the air ambulance paramedics drive the ambulance, which is kept at the fire station, to the patient and once they have stabilised him/her they are taken in the ambulance to the helipad. The island has been provided with an ambulance and it is the volunteers job to deploy the landing lights and make sure the ambulance is operational. Two weeks after the plan being set up they successfully evacuated a patient to hospital in Oban. An ambulance and landing lights are also going to be deployed to Lismore, Gigha, Colonsay, Coll and Jura.

16/11/2010    The call signs for the four stations in the former U Area have changed. Easterhouse (U01) is now T05, Springburn(U02) is now T06, Calton(U04) is now V05 and Parkhead(U03) is now V06.

15/11/2010    The Mobile Community Safety Centre vehicles are now called Community Safety Interactive Vehicles and have been modified by fitting them with Hydra Minerva Suites to allow them to also be used as Mobile Training facilities.

1/11/2010    The new Corporate Management Team took over today. This team see a reduction in the number of Directorates from six to four.

14/10/2010    Due to expected budget cuts the Chief Officer has proposed a temporary amendment to the uniformed establishment as follows:-
(a) The Interim removal of 45 posts from the Wholetime Duty System on full implementation of the 5 Group Duty System on 1/1/2011
(b) The Interim reduction of the rider establishment on Aerial Rescue Pumps from 6 to 5 Ffs, removing 50 posts from 1/4/2011
(c) Remove 9 posts from initial review of the Community Safety and Training and Operational Review Directorates.
The Board approved these measures to amend the uniformed establishment.
It was stated at this meeting that this would be the final Board meeting that ACO Hutchison and ACO Walker would be attending prior to their retiral.

6/9/2010      Iain Morris (civilian), who was one of the two Deputy Directors of Operations, has been promoted to the post of Head of Corporate Support. This is a new post which will manage a range of support functions and is part of the new Directorate structure. He will take up this post in November.

31/8/2010    Robert Scott, Area Commander for North Lanarkshire, has been selected as the new Assistant Chief Officer. He will take up the post of Director of Training and Operational Review in the autumn when ACO David Hutchison retires.

12/8/2010    At the Board meeting A. Shuttleworth was present as ACO (Training Centre Project Manager) having returned from secondment to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Advisory Unit (previously HMI for Scotland) at some point this year.

28/6/2010    SFR have put out to tender a contract for an Automated Vehicle Tracking System using GPS.

17/6/2010    In the Oban Times planning permission is being applied for at Scarnish Fire Garage, Isle of Tiree for provision of dignified facilities comprising:- new cabin located adjacent to existing fire garage to house WC/Shower, fire kit storage/drying room, BA storage and office facilities.

17/6/2010    Strategic sites have been identified within the Fire Stations at Oban and Dreghorn and planning permission obtained for carbonaceous fire training facilities. These units will complement the service's Real Fire Training facilities and will give refresher training in heat and smoke to firefighters who have not worn BA at a fire during the last 12 months.

27/5/2010    An Environmental and Incident Support Unit was put on the run at Kilsyth Retained Station, this is crewed by one Firefighter to deliver various Pods to an incident. Its first turn out was for a Welfare Pod at an Acetylene incident in Kilsyth the 1st of June 2010.

8/4/2010    The Fire Board will today be asked to approve the relocation of specialised appliances as follows:-
Forward Control Unit from Cumbernauld to Bellshill, Major Incident Unit from Bellshill to Cumbernauld, High Volume Pump and Prime Mover from Renfrew to Clydesmill Training School in April 2010, Aerial Ladder Platforms to Oban and Johnstone Retained Units, Detection Investigation & Monitoring Unit to Springburn, Aerial Rescue Pumps From Cowcaddens to to Springburn, Yorkhill to Kilwinning and Hamilton to Motherwell. The remaining specials will stay where they are at present.
The Board will also be asked to approve the restructure of the three Glasgow Areas into two with Easterhouse and Springburn moving into North West Glasgow which will be renamed North Glasgow and Parkhead and Calton moving into South Glasgow. Both these two Area Headquarters will be based at Cowcaddens. The Community Safety Section within Glasgow will be centralised and based at Calton Community Fire Station.

7/5/2010    The Retained Duty System's Availability Management Tool and 120 hour week will go live on this date.

28/3/2009    To mark the 50th Anniversary of the Cheapside Street Disaster a service was held at the memorial in the Glasgow Necropolis at 1pm followed by a service at 2-30pm in Glasgow Cathedral with the unveiling of a plaque at 3-50pm in George Square. This plaque will eventually be mounted at the side of the River Clyde near to the spot the Fire Boat St. Mungo was pumping water from on the night of the disaster, a mosaic will also be placed possibly on the Clydeside walk way near the spot. From 12 noon until 4pm the Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Preservation Group had a display in a marquee at George Square until 4pm.

9/3/2010    Tinderbox Heroes a book that is part of the 50th Anniversary of the Cheapside Street Disaster was launched today in The Mitchell Library. Details of Book.

12/2/2010    The Fire Board has been asked to approve the redeployment of the Rescue Pump at Yorkhill to Knightswood Community Fire Stations for a six month trial period starting on the 1st of June 2010.

1/1/2010    Another three areas, East & West Dunbartonshire, Argyll and Bute, North and South Ayrshire, joined South Glasgow and South Lanarkshire after the successful trial of the five group duty system. The remaining five areas and the Command and Control Centre will move from the current four watch system to the five group one on the 1st January 2011.

10/12/2009    It has been recommended to the Fire Board that the revised Corporate Management Team structure be implemented on 1st November 2010. This revision will see a reduction in the number of Directorates from six to four and a reduction in the Corporate Management Team from seven to five consisting of a Chief Officer and four Assistant Chief Officers with one of the Assistants being appointed as Deputy, a reduction of two Assistant Chief Officers. The Directorates will be Operations, Community Safety, Training & Operational Review, and Corporate Resources with Corporate Resources having a Head of Finance, Head of HR, and Head of Strategic Planning under the Assistant Chief Officer. The present Directorates of Finance, HR and Strategic Planning will be combined into the one Directorate, Corporate Resources. The retiral of ACO John Walker and ACO David Hutchison in October 2010 will ease the introduction of the proposed structure which will result in annual savings of £235,000 and these savings will increase as the review extends beyond the Corporate Management Team down into the Areas.
The Board have agreed that future appointments to Assistant Chief Officer and above will be on the understanding that they serve that position for at least five years and this will apply to the one vacant post which will be required to be filled in November 2010. This is due to the present high rate of turnover of Assistant Chief Officers. The Board approved this on 12/2/2010.

23/9/2009    The £2.5 million refurbishment of Greenock Community Fire Station which sees a partnership bringing into the building Strathclyde Police Marine Policing Unit and the Coastguard Sector Officer and Rescue Team was Officially Rededicated by Councillor Brian Wilson today.

2/8/2009      The Retained Duty System trial at Cumnock, Gourock, Shotts and Troon ended today and the full crew are again turning out for every shout..

27/6/2009    The Welfare Pod at Renfrew Fire Station which is not yet on the run  had it's first turnout when it was ordered on to a Level 5 (14 pumps) fire in a scrapyard in Meadowside Street, Renfrew. Also in attendance were Strathclyde's and Central's High Volume Pumps, two Airport appliances, a Forward Control Unit, the Major Incident Command Unit and the Salvation Army Canteen van.

13/6/2009    In the Queen's Birthday Honours List the Queen's Fire Service Medal has been awarded to Assistant Chief Officer David Hutchison and Crew Commander Joseph James Harkins. I remember Joe joining the Greenock retained crew and racing to turnouts on his push bike. He then left the retained to become a wholetime fireman and after a period at Paisley and other places he returned to Greenock as a L/Ff. Joe went round stations in Scotland giving talks on and promoting the Ben Fund and later he started the Retired Employees Association of which he is Chairman. ACO Hutchison joined Strathclyde as an Assistant Chief officer in December 2004.

19/5/2009   The Community Safety Minister, Fergus Ewing, MSP, climbed aboard a digger to break the first ground for the £35 million new Training Centre project at Clydesmill Industrial Estate in Cambuslang. The site will also include the new fire station that will replace Parkhead and Cambuslang Fire Stations.

19/2/2009    Kilbirnie House at Calton Fire station will be officially opened today by HRH Princess Anne.

13/2/2009    At its meeting today the Fire Board approved the closure of the existing stations at Parkhead and Cambuslang and replace them with one new station at Clydesmill Industrial Estate in Cambuslang. The two stations have three appliances crewed by 68 firefighters and the new station will have two appliances crewed by 48 firefighters.

13/2/2009    Area Commander Lewis Ramsay (South Glasgow) has been promoted to Assistant Chief Officer and will take up the post on the 20th March 2009.

11/2/2009    A Memorial plaque for the Kilbirnie Street Fire will be unveiled today at the new Community Centre at Calton Fire Station by Chief Officer Brian Sweeney.

27/1/2009    Today's train crash and fire at Stewarton was the first turnout for the Environmental Pod based at Renfrew when the Prime Mover conveyed it to Stewarton as spilled diesel and kerosene from the crash leaked down the Garrier Burn and into the River Irvine.

19/1/2009    The Technical Support Unit which was based at Govan is now on the run at Hamilton and is Dual crewed by the OIC and driver of the second appliance. Hamilton are now running 2 Rescue Pump Ladders and a Technical Support Unit.

31/12/2008 The Queens Fire Service Medal has been awarded to Ian Knox Stocks in the 2009 New Years Honours List. Ian was PFCO in the Control at Johnstone until April 2003 when he was seconded to the Scottish Government as Scottish Project Manager for 'Firelink'.

12/12/2008 Ex Assistant Chief Officer Keith MacGillivray who was seconded to Her Majesty’s Fire Services Inspectorate for Scotland in 2006 has retired from The Scottish Fire and Rescue Advisory Unit where he was the Interim Chief Advisor.

13/11/2008 The Board have approved the Pilot Scheme for the modified Wholetime Duty System. The pilot will run for a period of twelve months from the 12th January 2009.
Assistant Chief Officer Neil Turnbull intends to retire in April 2009.

9/10/2008 The SFR Board have approved the building of a new Community Fire Station to replace Parkhead and Cambuslang at an estimated total cost of £5,140,840.
The Board have approved the purchase of 41.4 acres of land at Clydesmill Estate, Cambuslang for the new Training Centre at a cost of £8.25M (excluding stamp duty and fees).
The Board have accepted the tender for the design and build of modular accommodation to form part of the refurbished Dunoon Community Fire Station from Extra Space Limited, Belfast at a cost of £365,000.

November 2008 SFR has taken delivery of a Welfare Pod designed by SFR and funded by the Scottish Government. The Pod will be based at Renfrew fire station.
The new Technical Rescue Garment is arriving soon.

2/11/2008 The Scottish Government has set up a short-life working group, led by Brian Sweeney, Chief Officer for Strathclyde Fire & Rescue, to examine how to reduce deaths and injuries caused by fires in Scotland.

22/10/2008 The last dedicated Aerial, the Aerial Ladder Platform at T01 Cowcaddens went off the run when the first appliance (a Rescue Pump) and the Aerial were replaced by an Aerial Rescue Pump. Two Aerial appliances are to be kept and placed at Strategic places, SA52FKO and possibly P752TSU, although their location has still to be decided.

11/7/2008    Retired Deputy Firemaster Jim Coyle QFSM, JP. died on Wednesday the 9th July 2008, his funeral will be on Saturday 19th July at 9.30am in St Joseph’s Church, 73 Cardowan Road, Stepps, G33 6AA, thereafter to Bedlay Cemetery, Cumbernauld Road, Chryston, G69 0HX, for 11.00am. Link to Obituary.

June 2008 Leadhills and Salen Volunteer Units are now mobile.

11/4/2008      Strathclyde Fire Board have approved a £30m New Training Centre Project which will be a state of the art Learning & Development Campus to replace the existing Training Complex at Cowcaddens and the TRTC at Hamilton. Two possible sites are currently being looked at and the Centre is expected to be completed in 2013.

?/?/??             An order for £1m has been placed for the supply of technical rescue garments. These garments will be used by firefighters when they are not attending fires in buildings. The garments, considerably lighter and cooler to wear than standard personal protective clothing, will be worn at incidents such as road traffic collisions, urban search and rescue and grass and forest fires, as well as for working at height.

25/2/2008      The new station at Tighnabruaich will be Officially Opened in the evening.

18/2/2008      The last Water Tender Ladder at a Wholetime station went off the run at U01 Easterhouse, when L727UGA was replaced by SF57MWG  a Series 4 Scania Rescue Pump Ladder.

28/12/2007    The Queen's Fire Service Medal has been awarded to Area Manager John Russell (Scottish Community Fire Safety Co-ordinator) in the New Year Honours list..

11/12/2007    15 Firefighters from Blue Watch at Paisley and Renfrew Fire Stations will tonight receive "The Chief Officer's Commendation" at Renfrew Fire Station for their actions in the Terrorist attack on Glasgow Airport on Saturday 30th June 2007, when they were the crews in the initial attendance.

29/11/2007    The 50th anniversary of the opening of Lanark fire station was held tonight and a number of retired employees including two who were present at the 1957 opening were joined by organisations and members of the community along with politicians, board members, senior officers and of course the duty crew. The station was officially Opened on St Andrew's night 1957 and there will be an Open Day this Saturday the 1st December.

15/11/2007   The Land Rover and forestry trailer which was at Douglas has been moved to Lanark but it will still be crewed by personnel from Douglas. The equipment will soon be put in a pod which will be transported by a Major Incident Unit.

13/11/2007  The first rescue of a person by Greenock's Aerial Rescue Pump was this morning around 12-40 am when one person was rescued from a fifth floor window of the high flat at Kelso Court in Belville Street, Greenock.

1/11/2007    The first two Automated External Defibrillators to go on the run in Renfrewshire and Inverclyde Area were on the two retained pumps at Gourock, other areas already have them on the run and soon every front line appliance in Strathclyde Fire and Rescue will carry one.

26/9/2007    Role descriptions changed from Manager to Commander.

24/9/2007    New Area Managers appointed.

September 2007 In the Role system the word Manager will be replaced by Commander e.g. Crew Commander, Group Commander etc. Firefighters are to be issued with caps, similar to Taysides with Red and White chequers round it. Areas are to be called Divisions and there is a possibility of some Areas merging.

The Official Opening of Iona Fire Station will be at 12-00 on Saturday 1st September 2007.

6/7/2007  The New Command Unit went on the run at Dreghorn. It's first turn out was before it went on the run to the terrorist attack on Glasgow Airport on Saturday 30th June 2007 when C.O. Sweeney requested it's attendance at the incident.

16/6/2007  Assistant Chief Officer Andrew Michael Shuttleworth was awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal in the Queen's Birthday Honours 2007.

13/6/2007  Inverclyde and Renfrewshire Area Headquarters at Thornhill, Johnstone now occupied although the building work is not yet finished. Up till now they have had a temporary headquarters in the  North and South Ayrshire Area Headquarters in Barr Street, Ardrossan (This was West Command Headquarters previously).

May 2007    Assistant Chief Officer Andrew Shuttleworth (Strategic Planning) is leaving to take up a 2 year secondment with Her Majesty’s Fire Services Inspectorate for Scotland this month. ACO Bill McDonagh (Operations) is retiring in September, both posts have now been advertised.

27/4/2007 The Princess Royal will launch the Water Rescue Service at the Nautical College, Glasgow.

17/4/2007 An agreement was signed with the Trossachs Search and Rescue Team (search dogs).

5/4/2007 An Official Launch today of DNA kits will see the rollout of them across Strathclyde Fire & Rescue. The kits will allow DNA  samples to be taken when Firefighters are spat upon. The sample will be given to Police who will check it against the national DNA database. Greenock fire station already have kits on their appliances and a Glasgow crew became the first to use one earlier this week.

22/3/2007 Official Launch of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Maritime Incident Response Group at Greenock Fire station. Today the MIRG Team became a declared resource to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA). This is the twelfth of fifteen units in the Britain to become operational.

10/2/2007 Approval has been granted to close two fire stations in the east of Glasgow and replace them with a single station costing £5m. Board members of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue gave their backing to the plan, which will see the closure of Cambuslang and Parkhead fire stations, at a meeting in Hamilton yesterday.

9/2/2007 SFR Board are expected to order a feasibility study into proposals to build a new £5 million state of the art purpose built Fire Station in Glasgow's east end to replace Parkhead and Cambuslang this would give a saving of up to £700,000 per year.

21/1/2007    The High Volume Pumping Unit (HVPU) for Strathclyde, one of four in Scotland is sitting in the yard at Cowcaddens, It will be stationed at Barrhead where there will also be an Environmental Protection Unit pod and Welfare pod. These Prime Movers and pods are provided under the New Dimension project funded by the Scottish Executive.

18/1/2007 Thursday drill night and the last Road Rescue Unit in Strathclyde, P792UGA, went off the run at Lesmahagow. The Water Tender Ladder and Road Rescue Unit being replaced by a Rescue Pump Ladder.

1/1/2007 In the New Years Honours Deputy Chief Officer Eileen Baird was awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal and Assistant Chief Officer William Keith MacGillivray was awarded the M.B.E.

11th December 2006 Ex Firemaster John Jameson died today, a Requiem Mass will be held on Monday 18th December at 10-00hrs in St. Andrew's RC Church, Bearsden, then to Langfaulds Cemetery, Milngavie. There will be refreshments after the burial in Milngavie Fire Station.

8/8/2006 The three Forward Control Units went on the run and the Command Unit based at Springburn came off the run.

Assistant Chief Officer Small is to retire in June 2006. A request has been received for Assistant Chief Officer MacGillivray to be seconded to Her Majesty’s Fire Services Inspectorate for Scotland for an initial period of 2 years with the option of an extension for a further period. Two new Assistant Chief Officers will be appointed.

12/6/2006 At a large warehouse fire in the James Watt Dock in Greenock the assistance message "Make Fire Tugs two" was sent and two                Svitzer tugs the Flying Phantom and Svitzer Mallaig responded from their berths in the James Watt Dock. This is not something that happens very often, I can only recall three other occasions, Tuesday 22nd August 1978 around 6am the MV Dappo Sky was on fire at the Tail of the Bank and RMAS Rollicker and the Ramsgarth both firefighting tugs played 3 monitors on the superstructure. The others were a derelict pier on fire at King George V dock and I think it was the tug Flying Fulmar which was used to help extinguish this fire and sheds to the west of Custom House Quay one Greenock fair I think.

15th May 2006? approx Stand down period was changed to Midnight to 6-45am only, every day. There is no longer stand down on Bank or Public holidays.

24th May 2006 Chief Officer Brian Sweeney received the keys for £3.2 million worth of Fire Appliances, the 16 appliances consisted of 12 Rescue Pumps which will go to Helensburgh, Oban, Dumbarton, Clarkston, Kirkintilloch, Milngavie, Easterhouse, Govan, Maryhill, Castlemilk, Cumbernauld and Kilmarnock at a cost of £142,848 each plus 4 Aerial Rescue Pumps at £386,755 each which will be going to Polmadie, Yorkhill, Clydebank and Parkhead. The Scania appliances have bodywork by John Dennis Coachbuilders.  Photos

Retired Assistant Firemaster Jack Stewart (Jackie) died on Monday 10th April 2006 and his funeral will be on Wednesday 19th April at 11am in Clydebank Crematorium.

13th January 2006 Rank to Role came into operation.

16th December 2005 the sixth and last wholetime Road Rescue Unit was put off the run at station V04 Polmadie.

Annual Carol Concert at Greenock Fire Station, Thursday 15th December 2005 at 7-30 pm. Tea and Mince pies after.

25th October 2005 at 18-30 in Border's bookshop Buchanan Street, Glasgow, Alan Forbe's book "Everyday Heroes" The 30 year story of Strathclyde Fire Brigade was launched. Link from Index page.

11th October 2005. At 18-00hrs the third Major Incident Unit went on the run at station N02 Bellshill.

At 00-00hrs on Friday 30th September 2005 the 4 Commands were officially changed to 10 Areas and all station call signs were changed and all appliance call signs were changed to five character ones at the same time. The undress uniform has now been changed from blue shirts (white shirts for Station Officer and above) with black ties and double breasted jackets to Black shirts with rank markings on the collar and a sort of bomber jacket, hats have been done away with.

The official opening of Appin will take place on Friday 30th September at 19-30 and Lismore on Saturday 1st October at 14-30.

23rd September 2005 the fifth wholetime RRU (at Knightswood) went off the run and was replaced by an SEV (Ford Ranger) to tow 2 PWCs (Jet Skis) or a MkIII Zodiac boat.

12th August 2005 the fourth wholetime RRU (at Ayr) went off the run at 10-00. The RRU vehicle is still on the run but as an SEV (Supplementary Equipment Vehicle) to tow the inflatable boat.

22nd August 2005 at 11am the new Aerial Rescue Pump went on the run at Polmadie Fire Station in Glasgow. This appliance runs with a crew of six at all times and replaces a Water Tender Ladder and a Turntable Ladder.

An extrication challenge was held at Hamilton Headquarters on Saturday 14th May, 2005. This year's Strathclyde and Scottish Challenges were won by Ayr Fire Station. They also won Best Team Leader in both events. Inveraray were second in both and their medic won Best Medic award in both competitions also.

There will be a Press launch of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue in George Square, Glasgow on Wednesday 8th May 2005. A book of the History of Strathclyde Fire Brigade 1975 to 2005 titled "Everyday Heroes" will be published this year.

20/4/2005 The new Aerial Rescue Pump (ARP) has arrived in the Brigade. It will be going to BTC and Polmadie for crew training before going on the run at Polmadie to replace the TL and a Pump. More will be purchased to replace the other TLs first then the HPs and ALPs. It is the first machine to have a "battenburgh" stripe and it also has the new badge.

Mid April 2005, all wholetime stations in West Command now have at least 1 Rescue Pump Ladder.

April 2005, the Number Two post is to go to Eileen Baird, currently the Director for Finance, Legal and Administration. Mrs Baird, 41, becomes the only woman non-firefighter in such a senior Fire Service post in the UK. As well as continuing her role as Director, Mrs Baird will become the Deputy to Chief Fire Officer Brian Sweeney, succeeding Phil Robinson who retires in June.

Assistant Chief Officer (Temporary Deputy Firemaster) Phil Robinson retired on pension on 30th June 2005.

March? 2005 name change from Strathclyde Fire Brigade to Strathclyde Fire & Rescue. At the same time the Firemaster became the Chief Officer and Assistant Firemasters became Assistant Chief Officers. It just doesn't sound as authoritive or important, there was something about the title Firemaster that instantly told you who and how important he was, Chief Officer just doesn't have the same ring and Chief Officer of what?

The first Retained Road Rescue Unit to go off the run was the one at Inveraray which went off the run on Tuesday 22nd February 2005.

Middle of February Aerials were taken off the PDAa for AFAs for trial period. Aerials are on request only except for life threatening (Halls of residence, hospitals etc.) and persons reported turn outs.

Firemaster Brian Sweeney has been awarded the Queen's Fire Service Medal and Volunteer Leader Fraser McKenzie (F51 Lochgoilhead) the M.B.E.  in the New Year's Honours List. 31/12/2004.

The fire board have agreed that the brigade should prepare to change it's name to STRATHCLYDE FIRE AND RESCUE. December 2004.

The structure of the brigade will change from 4 Commands to 10 Areas. These will be:-
Argyll & Bute/East & West Dunbartonshire/North West Glasgow/North East Glasgow/South Glasgow/North Lanarkshire/South Lanarkshire/Inverclyde & Renfrewshire/North & South Ayrshire/East Renfrewshire & East Ayrshire.
Each Area will have an Area Manager (Senior Divisional Officer) and all Wholetime Stations will have Station Managers. It will come into effect in October 2005 and should take 2 years to complete. December 2004.

Assistant Firemaster Brendan McCaffrey was seconded to the Scottish Executive on the 5th November 2004.

Wholetime Firefighters are now crewing retained appliances along with Retained Firefighters at Wholetime/Retained stations and vice versa if necessary as of Monday 1st November 2004.

Deputy Firemaster Brian P. Sweeney who has been Acting Firemaster since the first of March was appointed Firemaster/Chief Executive of Strathclyde Fire Brigade on 25th October 2004.

The third Road Rescue Unit to be taken off the run as a result of the provision of Rescue Pumps was the one based at Renfrew at 10-00 hours on Wednesday 14th April 2004. The Rescue Pump replacement is to be completed by October 2008.

The Foam Salvage Tender moved from Dreghorn to Kilmarnock on the 20th March, 2004 (but is keeping the call sign D059) in preparation for it being replaced by a Major Incident Unit (New Dimension) as they have to be stationed at 2 Pump stations for manpower.

Temporary Assistant Firemaster Keith Small is Commander of Central and West Commands. 1/3/2004.

Firemaster Jeff Ord is to retire from the Brigade on the 1st March to take up the post of HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland and Assistant Firemaster Rab Coke is to retire on the 1st April 2004.

Oban Fire Station was Officially Opened on the 16th January 2004.

Firemaster Jeff Ord has been awarded the CBE in the New Year's honour's list. 31/12/2003.

The First Minster is to recommend to Her Majesty the Queen that Mr Jeff Ord, currently Firemaster with Strathclyde Fire Brigade, should be appointed HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services for Scotland. Mr Ord OstJ QFSM GIFireE will take up appointment in March 2004  in succession to Mr Dennis Davis, who will be leaving the post at the end of this year. 3/12/2003.

Blackwaterfoot and Lochranza Volunteer Stations were Officially Opened on the 25th and 26th of November 2003 by Councillor Jane Gorman.

Assistant Firemaster Brian Sweeney was promoted to  Deputy Firemaster and took over the post on 21st November 2003.

3/11/2003    All Firefighters now have MSA Gallet full face helmets, the Brigade wanted all Firefighters to have them for the 5th of November. PBI Gold tunics, leggings and leather boots were distributed to East Command first in November and rolled out to the other Commands in 2003/2004.

The second Road Rescue Unit to be taken off the run was the one at Motherwell on Thursday 17th July 2003.

Oban Fire Station upgraded from 2 Pump Retained to 1 Pump Wholetime and 1 Pump Retained went operational with Green watch at 09-00 on Monday 14th July 2003.

Deputy Firemaster David Kennedy is to retire in November 2003.

The first Road Rescue Unit to be taken off the run was Dumbarton's in December 2002 as North Command now has twelve Rescue Pumps on the run.

Strathclyde's first Rescue Pump went on the run at F07 Dumbarton on Thursday the 17th of January, 2002. Y546TNS is a Scania 94D-260 with bodywork by Emergency One. Other Rescue pumps (1 at F06 Helensburgh and 2 at F01 Clydebank) will follow soon with older pumps being retrofitted as Rescue Pumps and eventually the RRU will be withdrawn. North Command is the first to get these new pumps and will be followed by East Command then West Command.

Her Majesty the Queen officially opened the new Command and Control Centre at Johnstone on Thursday 5th July, 2001.

Sunday 17th June 2001 the "Citizen Firefighter" bronze statue was unveiled by the Lord Provost of Glasgow Alex Mossan and the Convener of Strathclyde Fire Board Councillor Joe Shaw outside the Quality Inn Hotel (formerly Central Hotel) on Gordon Street. This was the third and last of three projects by the Millennium working group. The bronze statue by Kenny Hunter shows a firefighter in BA.

The Minister of Justice at the Scottish Parliament gave his approval at the end of last week for a new Fire Station at Oban with one wholetime and one retained crew. 21/6/2001.

Assistant Firemaster Dr. Robert Docherty is to retire on the 28th February 2001. (FIRE magazine January 2001)

The new Command and Control Centre at Johnstone opened on Monday, 12th February, 2001.

Oban and Cumnock will be upgraded to one wholetime and one retained pump at each station. (Semper Peratus No.4)

Firemaster Jeff Ord in Fire Times February/March 2000 said the brigade would be upgrading two retained stations to wholetime.

1994    In August and September a trial of a Helicopter for operational incidents was carried out. Although very successful the cost of buying one could not be justified.

1991    Appliances were given yellow stripes to increase their visibility.

12/7/1990    Strathclyde Fire Brigade Headquarters at Hamilton opened by Her Majesty the Queen.

30/1/1989    Strathclyde Fire Brigade employs its first two female firefighters, Fiona Gavin and Elaine Grimes.

THEY DIED ON DUTY

MAIN INDEX                            1975 INDEX