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.