E63 MINARD

1 Rapid Response Unit.

 Stations

Volunteer Leader

1975 to ?                         ?

? to 1998               Volunteer Leader Robin Daglish (Morph)

1998                      Volunteer Leader Alistair Galbraith

2014                      Temp Volunteer Leader Gayle Cook

2017                      Crew Manager Gail Cook   (SFRS WEB News 6/6/2017,there 3/1/2023) (there 8/5/2023)

 Appliances

Brigades

When the new call signs were being implemented in the WEST SDA over a 7 week period beginning 31/8/2020 doing 1 LSO Area per week, minardwas changed from L75 to E63.

Official Opening

Minard

Fire

Station

Tuesday 18^th August 1998

ORDER OF PROCEEDINGS

GUESTS ASSEMBLE

PLATFORM PARTY ASSEMBLES

OPENING REMARKS
Councillor B. Robertson
Strathclyde Fire Board

OPENING CEREMONY
Councillor J. Shaw
Convener, Strathclyde Fire Board

DEDICATION OF STATION
Dr. R. Macleod

READING OF ROYAL WARRANT
Assistant Firemaster J. Martin MIMgt AIFireE

PRESENTATION OF LSGC MEDAL &
FIREMASTERS CERTIFICATE TO EX VOL. FF J. PATERSON
Firemaster John Jameson CBE QFSM AIFireE CIMgt

PRESENTATION OF TRAINING CERTIFICATES
Firemaster John Jameson CBE QFSM AIFireE CIMgt

FIREMASTER’S REMARKS
John Jameson CBE QFSM, AIFireE, CIMgt

 CLOSING REMARKS

 BUFFET

MINARD

VOLUNTEER UNIT

Minard Volunteer Unit came into being after a serious fire in the village in October 1975.
Cruachan Cottage, on the hill behind the village, was destroyed in a fire caused by a blazing chip pan.
At the request of the villagers, a fire hut was established. The first two leaders of the unit were the owners of the Village Post Office/Shop. They were in the village all day and knew the whereabouts of the members of the crew.
Over the past 25 years the Minard Volunteers have assisted at several serious house fires, forestry fires and road accidents in the Minard and Furnace areas. In addition to this they have also attended many small incidents such as chimney fires and even a person trapped in a letter box!

MAIN CONTRACTOR
McVicar & McInnes (Argyll) Ltd.
Oakfield
Ardrishaig
Argyll
PA30 8EP

ARCHITECTS
Argyll & Bute Council
Department of Transportation & Property
Director :- Mr. Alistair Gow

Designed and produced by Strathclyde Fire Brigade (Graphics)

From wooden hut to fully equipped fire station

Mid Argyll has welcomed the opening of Minard Fire Station. Firemaster John Jameson from Brigade Headquarters was present as the opening ceremony was performed by Councillor Joe Shaw, the convenor of Strathclyde Fire Board.
Now, instead of a small hut on the shore at Minard, the team of 10 volunteers will be operating from a fully equipped base with a fire engine and breathing apparatus. Dr Roderick MacLeod of Furnace dedicated the station and the assistant Fire Master John Martin gave the reading of the Royal Warrant.
Retired volunteer firefighter John Paterson was presented with his LSGC Medal and Firemaster's Certificate by John Jameson who also presented training certificates to the volunteers.
The Firemaster praised the hard work of Argyll Councillors and Council Leader Dick Walsh for their stalwart support, particularly during budget talks.

Biggest

Strathclyde Fire Brigade, with the exception of London Fire Brigade, is the biggest in Europe. It operates in an area of extreme contrasts from vast numbers in Glasgow to small communities in the islands. Firemaster Jameson explained he was sent out to Argyll many years ago to check out fire course content, and he discovered the volunteer base was a wooden hut with the minimum of equipment!
He started to campaign over the last five years to improve fire cover to the local communities and this has resulted in many new stations being built, of which Minard is the most recent.
The Fireboard was set up when Strathclyde Regional Council was disbanded. Now the twelve local authorities have representatives on the board. In Argyll, these are Councillors Bruce Robertson and Dugald MacKinnon. Mr Robertson gave the opening remarks at the ceremony and introduced members of the platform party.
Minard Volunteer Unit came into being after a serious fire in the village back in 1975. At the request of the villagers a fire hut was established. The first two leaders of the unit were the owners of the village post office and shop, since they were in the village all day and knew the whereabouts of the members of the crew. Communication was then carried out by telephone grape-vine to the various members, but now the volunteers respond instantly to pager calls. Duncan Berndt, Divisional Officer said the station would be a great improvement in the service for Minard, Furnace and Lochgair.

Respond

'The unit will be able to respond much quicker and with much better equipment now as well as being able to enter burning buildings,' said Mr Berndt. He added that the unit would also receive improved training to maximise the use of their new equipment. 'On-going training is an essential part of the service anyway,' explained Mr Berndt.
Minard firefighters will also be equipped with the latest protection gear needed to fight fires in line with their fellow fire-fighters in the city. In his address at the station, the firemaster explained that a fire in Minard has the same dangers as one in Glasgow and his commitment to equip the volunteers with the best equipment and training available for their safety was paramount.
This was echoed by Duncan Berndt: 'The protection needed is the same,' said Duncan Berndt.
He added: 'We see Minard playing its part in the Brigade' s overall fire safety message to prevent fire deaths by better smoke detection and all round safety protection in the home.' Argyll's Community firefighter Andrew Davidson works specifically to spread this message and raise awareness of the dangers of fire and the implementation of safety precautions to prevent fires. This educational message is pivotal to the prevention cause.

Equipped

There are now 15 fully equipped stations in Argyll. And these stations are not specifically for the fire unit's use. For when opened the are offered to the communities for their use for meetings, children's parties, events etc. In addition, 31 Fire huts are scheduled for replacement over a six to seven year time span throughout the Fire Board area. The Ardfern station is due to come on stream in the autumn and Kilmelford is also due to be opened in 1999. Argyll has 27 volunteer fire station units with retained units at Oban, Inveraray, Lochgilphead, Tarbert and Campbeltown.

Minard Fire Station opens its doors

The new Minard Fire Station opened its doors to the public on Saturday when tremendous weather drew the crowds.
The volunteer unit was officially opened two weeks ago, after 20 years being based in a fire hut on the shore.
Saturday was a day for villagers to see the fully equipped station which boasts breathing apparatus.
Volunteer Leader Alastair Galbraith, who has been a volunteer fireman for 19 years, said the unit came into being 22 years ago after a serious fire in the village.
Consequently, a fire unit was established and, earlier this year, money from the Strathclyde Fire Board budget was allocate for a new unit.
Ten volunteers - among them Volunteer Leader Alastair Galbraith, Deputy Leader Gavin Paterson, volunteers Ronnie Crawford, David Fyfe-Jackson, John Goodwin, Lynda Kirby, Ian MacCallum; Dani McPhee, Ian McPhee and Duncan Sinclair - are the first cover in the area between Auchindrain and Lochgair. They also act as support for Inveraray and Lochgilphead fire fighters.
The crew, which includes a teacher, a marine engineer and a joiner, has undergone extensive training programmes in such courses as first aid, trauma and medical to ensure excellent front line cover in the area around Minard and beyond.
<PHOTO> Minard's new fire engine in front of the station AA A/36/21 (L163YCS)
<PHOTO> Minard fire-fighters at their new station AA/A/36/23 (6 of the crew)
<PHOTOS> Youngsters enjoy the Open Day at the station and had the opportunity to try out some of the protection equipment. Left Richard Goodwin and right Iain MacNab AA/A/36/26 & /24/
( Courier & Advertiser, Friday 4 September 1998 Page 5)

Minard’s volunteer fire crew are presented with certificates 

A crew of volunteer fire fighters from Minard have received recognition for the roles they played in rescuing a man from a burning house.
William McShane was trapped in the blaze at 12 Queen Elizabeth Cottages in Furnace on January 24.
The five-man crew from Minard were first on the scene at the well-developed fire, and after entering the house and rescuing Mr McShane, they then carried out first aid and trauma in an attempt to save his life.
Without their efforts, he may have died in the fire.
On Tuesday night, the five local heroes were presented with certificates by Chief Officer Brian Sweeney to commemorate their actions and bravery.
Family, friends, fellow crewmembers and local councillors looked on as crew commander Alastair Galbraith, fire fighters Gail Cook, Ian MacCallum, John Goodwin and David Warwick accepted their awards at a special ceremony at Minard fire station.
This was only the second time in his tenure that the Chief Officer has presented these certificates, and area commander John Ironside and group commander Danny Downie were also in attendance at the event.
Group commander Downie said afterwards: ‘The crew are pleased that their efforts have been acknowledged and in their own words, they were doing their duty to the community at the time of this incident.’
(The Argyllshire Advertiser, 11 April, 2008.) 

Chief’s Award for Minard Rescuers 

Volunteers rewarded for outstanding performance 

Our Volunteer firefighters based at Minard in Kintyre have been presented with Chief Officer’s Certificates of Congratulations for their outstanding performance when they rescued a man from a burning house earlier this year.
At 01.37 on 14 January Operations Control received a report of a fire in a house in the village of Furnace. The Minard crew was mobilised at 01.46 and was first in attendance at the house less than four minutes later.
The crew discovered that the living room of the house was ablaze. Firefighters wearing breathing apparatus had to fight their way through a heat barrier into the living room. They then discovered the householder, William McCheyne, overcome by smoke fumes.
The firefighters took Mr McCheyne out of the house to safety and gave him oxygen while colleagues tackled the blaze. Police officers at the scene later said that there was no doubt that the Minard crew had saved Mr McCheyne’s life; his family agreed and thanked the firefighters for their strenuous efforts to rescue him.
Chief Officer Brian Sweeney, accompanied by Argyll & Bute Area Commander John Ironside, visited the Minard Community Fire Station in April to present the crew with their certificates.
Mr Sweeney is pictured with (left to right) Firefighter Gail Cook, who was the trauma/first aid casualty carer at the fire, Crew Commander Alastair Gaibraith who was officer in charge, Firefighter David Warwick, BA wearer, Firefighter John Goodwin who was driver of the appliance and Area Commander Ironside. The BA Team Leader, Firefighter Ian McCallum, was unable to attend the presentation but received his certificate later.
(SFR news No. 1/2008 Spring Issue. Page 5)

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