P23 COUPAR ANGUS

1 Pump, Retained.

Stations

? to 1962                 Appliance kept at Messrs. Thomas Todd's Garage

5/7/1962                  10 Blairgowrie Road, COUPAR ANGUS PH13 9AT.           Photo

 

Firemasters

 

1967

Sub Officer McFarlane

1971

Sub Officer S. O. Dow (Alexander)

2016 to 2018

Watch Manager Kevin McKay

2018 to 23/11/2020 Watch Commander George Turnbull
23/11/2020 to Watch Commander Paul Grant

 

Appliances

? EGS43 Commer QX/McMurray & Archibald PE
? FGS986D Commer VAKS/HCB Angus WrT
1975 GSP487N Dodge K850/HCB Angus WrL
1990 HSP132W Dodge G1313/HCB Angus WrL
1998 F529OES Volvo FL6-14/Mountain Range WrL
2001 R443TSL Volvo FL6-14/Emergency One WrL
2006 R443TSL Volvo FL6-14/Emergency One Reduced capacity RP
2009 W637OSP Scania 94D-260/Excalibur/Emergency One RP
2010 SP06EHB Scania P270/Emergency One RP

 

 

Brigades

1941 to 1948 National Fire Service
1948 to 1975 Perth and Kinross Fire Brigade
1975 to 7/6/2005 Tayside Fire Brigade
8/6/2005 to 2013 Tayside Fire and Rescue (Name change only)
1/4/2013 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

 

Notes

 

The Perth and Kinross Fire Area Administration Scheme Order, 1948

 

                Equipment                                                                                             Retained

                1 Standard Towing Unit with Light Pump mounted                       1 Leading Fireman
                1 Large Trailer Pump                                                                            9 Firemen

 

The Perth and Kinross Fire Area Administration Scheme Order, 1952

 

                Equipment                                                                                             Retained

                1 Pump Appliance                                                                                2 Leading Firemen
                                                                                                                                8 Firemen

 

Establishment 2000

 

                Equipment                                                                                             Retained

                1 Water Tender Ladder                                                                       1 Sub Officer
                                                                                                                                ? Leading Firefighters
                                                                                                                                ? Firefighters

 

This was B09 until 28/6/2004 when it became Station 29 and on ?/12/2015 it became P23 with the introduction of the new National Call Signs.

1996 Couper Angus has the only two female Firefighters in Tayside Fire and Rescue in Gail Bannerman and Dona Hay.

 

Coupar Angus Factory Fire Causes

Over £60,000 Damage 

Damage estimated at over £60,000 was caused when two thirds of Caledonian Barbecue Company, Limited’s poultry processing station at Coupar Angus , was destroyed by fire early on Friday morning.
An area of 25,000 square feet was gutted by the blaze, which was attended by firemen from stations throughout the district, including Perth, Dundee, and Coupar Angus, where a new fire station was opened only the night before. The part of the factory which was destroyed contained valuable refrigerating equipment, as well as storage rooms and a packing bay.
During the height of the blaze several explosions rocked the building and an ammonia cylinder weighing 1 cwt. was blasted hundreds of feet into the air to land 600 feet from the factory across the main Perth – Coupar Angus road, firmly embedded in a bank. Another cylinder, containing acetylene gas, was also blown high in the air when it exploded but landed back in the factory.

Windows Shattered

No one was injured by the explosions, but windows in nearby houses were shattered by the blasts.
Mr and Mrs Arthur Croll, who live in a house on the main road near the factory, were watching the fire from their garden with their 10 year old son Brian, when they heard a terrific explosion. Said Mrs Croll later: “We were watching the fire when suddenly there was a tremendous explosion. I saw a cylinder soar high into the air and pass over our house. It landed with a thump in the bank across the road.
“It was just as well the cylinder landed where it did,” she added “for if it had hit the house or crashed onto the roadway, some of us would almost certainly have been injured by splinters.”
The alarm was raised when Mr G Thomson, night watchman at the factory, who was working in an adjoining part of the premises, saw the glow through an opening in the wall. He tried to telephone the fire brigade, but the flames had spread so quickly the telephones were out of order. Mr Thomson got someone to run to the town’s telephone exchange and call the brigade from there.
Eight fire appliances hastened to the blaze and firemen managed to save part of the factory, Mr Alexander Masson, Perth’s firemaster, directed operations. Firemen were still on the scene 10 hours later, but the blaze had been completely extinguished and only the gutted factory shell remained. It is believed that the outbreak started in the carton store.
The factory employs 85 workers, but Mr Ian Rattrie, general manager, said there was no question of anyone being paid off at this stage. The men will be kept busy clearing the rubble, and the girls can work in the undamaged processing departrment, where they can bring the birds right up to the refrigeration stage, he said.
The premises were taken over from Smedley’s Ltd., only seven months ago, and has a weekly output of 30,000 birds. Production would continue this week on a limited basis, added Mr Rattrie.
<PHOTO> Four members of Perth and Kinross Fire Brigade received long service awards at the opening of Coupar Angus Fire Station. They were (l. to r.) – Station Officer W. Scott, Perth; Fireman J. Reekie, Perth; Sub Officer C. Kilgour, Alyth; Fireman R. McGregor, Perth.
(Perthshire Advertiser Wednesday, July 11, 1962. Page 5.)

Factory Blaze Followed Opening of Fire Station 

<PHOTO> Coupar Angus Fireman raced from their new station, opened only the night before (see extreme right) to fight a blaze which destroyed two thirds of the nearby Caledonian Barbecue Company Limited’s poultry processing plant and caused £60,000 worth of damage, on Friday.
<PHOTO> Provost J. Davidson, Coupar Angus, sets off a mock fire alarm to open the new fire station in the town, unaware that the alarm was to ring in earnest only hours later. (see left)
(Perthshire Advertiser 17/7/1962?)


<PHOTO> Station Officer S. O. Dow, Coupar Angus, seen receiving a long service medal from Mr M. G. Kidd, chairman of Perth and Kinross Joint Fire Committee at the opening of Alyth's new fire station on Wednesday. Also shown is W. Whitton, Pitlochry, who also received a medal; Provost G. P. Beats, Alyth; Treasurer A. U. Cross, Perth Town Council; and Mr A. M. Masson, Firemaster.
(Perthshire Advertiser, Saturday, July 24, 1971. Back Page.)

 

 

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

 

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