03/11/2025
13 years ago today, FF Roddy Ritchie retired after 30+ years as a firefighter in Coupar Angus.
Almost daily, he would leave his post as School Janitor when his pager sounded to go and help someone in their time of need.
Back in those days we were fortunate to have a waiting list of people wanting to join.
With crew members from various employers throughout the town, we had a crew of 12 Firefighters.
Our Firefighters were also:
Joiners
Janitors
Factory staff
Mechanics
Business owners
Lorry drivers
Printers
Some were Wholetime Firefighters who also had a pager when off duty.
Things have changed a lot in those 13 years since FF Ritchie retired.
Employment opportunities have changed, challenges for businesses are different, people's priorities have shifted.
Our crew has changed a lot since then too.
We now have only have a crew of 5 people, of those, 4 are Wholetime Firefighters, 1 lives on the boundary of the 8 minutes response area, most have young family; so the challenges are many
Could you be the next On Call Firefighter for our station? This is not a volunteer position, there's a retainer payment based on your availability, as well as payments for incidents, community events and training you attend.
https://www.firescotland.gov.uk/careers/on-call-firefighter/
Check out the details and feel free to pop in to see us on a Monday night (7-9pm) when we're on station.
