THE WESTERN ISLES HAVE A BIG MONTH
The weekend of the 3rd and 4th of February was a great occasion for the fire crews of Benbecula, Lochboisdale and Lochmaddy. Starting off on the evening of Friday the 3rd fire fighters and friends from across the Uist’s and Barra congregated at the Lochboisdale Hotel, Lochboisdale, to celebrate both the retirement of Fire fighter John R. MacCormick and the presentation of a 20 year long service and good conduct medal to Sub Officer James ‘Murphy’ MacEachan.
Retirement Function Honouring Firefighter John R. MacCormick
The evening function held at the Lochboisdale Hotel, Isle of South Uist was presided over by Assistant Divisional Officer Martin Haigh (District Officer Western Isles). Honoring firefighter MacCormick, Martin thanked him for the service he had provided throughout his 30 years and 7 months to both the communities of the Uist’s and to the fire and rescue service.
In his time John has served under a number of Firemasters and the Brigade has changed its title as follows:
Northern Area Fire Brigade
Northern Fire Brigade
Highland and Islands Fire Brigade
Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service
John was presented with a number of gifts at his retirement function with a special
mention going to the garden bench given to him by the crew of Lochboisdale fire station.
Relaxing on this during the summer months with a cool drink of juice in his hand’s John can
enjoy watching the smoke in the distance, with thoughts of the crew heading out with their
beaters.
The current Chief Fire Officer Brian A Murray QFSM BA (Hons) MA was then called upon to present John with a presentation axe reflecting the commitment and service given by John throughout his career.
Other gifts were presented to John by colleagues who had traveled from across the brigade, indeed the evening was celebrated by firefighters, work colleagues and friends from as far as Inverness and Stornoway as well as those locally.
John will be very much missed by his colleagues in Lochboisdale ‘however’ they will see him on a daily basis as he strives to keep the power cuts to a minimum throughout the Islands.
Long Service and Good Conduct Medal Presentation
Sub Officer "Murphy" MacEachan was also presented with his 20 year long service and good conduct medal during the evening’s events.
Reading the Queens citation, Assistant Divisional Officer Martin Haigh (District Officer Western Isles) expressed his appreciation for the dedication and commitment shown by ‘ Murphy’ over his career to date.
The Chief Fire Officer was once again called to the floor and after expressing his thanks on behalf of the Fire Board members, the fire service and the local communities presented ‘ Murphy‘ with his medal which in it’s uniqueness is individually stamped with the recipients name.
Thanks go out to everyone who attended the evening making it a great success, with a special mention of thanks to both Sub Officer MacEachan and his crew for arranging the celebrations and to the management and staff of The Lochboisdale Hotel for an evening of excellent service and cuisine.
Official Opening of Lochmaddy Fire Station
Saturday 4th February arrived all too soon and it was of to Lochmaddy for the official opening of the newly constructed fire station, a formidable turnout of locals and guests made for an excellent event.
The station was constructed by McInnes Brothers ‘Building and Civil Engineering Contractors, Uachdar, Isle of Benbecula. Who along with their sub contractors and staff have provided an excellent facility to the crew and communities of North Uist.
Once again Assistant Divisional Officer Martin Haigh was called upon to do the honors and following his opening address invited the Chief Fire Officer forward to speak to those assembled.
The Chief Fire Officer Brian A. Murray welcomed everyone present and thanked them for attending; he spoke highly of the Lochmaddy crew and their dedication and patience over the years, giving comment to the both the changes and development within the whole of the fire service at this time.
He commented:
“The newly constructed station gives the crew and the communities of Lochmaddy and North Uist a facility to be proud of, one with which the crew can train in and serve their communities from”.
The gathered crowd was then addressed by councilor Donald MacLean (local councilor and member of the fire board), he talked of his Island links and the pride he had in the local fire crews and communities, speaking highly of the effort given by all from firefighter to Chief Fire Officer.
The Official Opening
Lochmaddy Fire Station was officially opened at 15.15hrs on 4th February 2006 by the
convener of the fire board Mr. Drew MacFarlane Slack, Mr. Slack spoke of many areas within the
remit of the fire board and gave praise to councilor MacLean for his support in achieving the
development of the new stations throughout the brigade area.
He praised the efforts, dedication and commitment of all fire crews mentioning both their
position in and dedication to their communities, the station was then pronounced officially open at
15.15hrs with Mr. Slack unveiling the station plaque.
Martin Haigh again came forward and invited Reverend Donald Campbell –j Church of Scotland, to bless the station, following the blessing all of the guests present were encouraged to have a good look around the new station and appliance before proceeding to the Tigh Dearg Hotel, Lochmaddy for a buffet lunch.
Throughout the lead up to the ceremony and following the speeches, background music was provided by Mr. Paraig McKay and his Clan Tir an Eorna Fiddlers.
On behalf of the Chief Fire Officer Brian A. Murray, Fire Board Convener Mr. Drew MacFarlane Slack, Sub Officer Donald McIlwraith (Officer in Charge) Lochmaddy Fire Station and his crew, I would like to thank everyone who provided assistance on the day and attended the ceremony, for their support in making the opening of the new fire station a great success.
Benbecula Fire Station 30th Anniversary
The evening of Saturday 4th of February saw a gathering of fire fighters both past and present coming together to celebrate over 30 years of service to the communities of Benbecula and throughout the Uists, congregating in the Dark Island Hotel, Liniclate. A selection of fire fighters from throughout the Islands along with their guests enjoyed an evening of great music, good food and dancing.
Opening the nights festivities Sub Officer Alasdair MacVicar thanked everyone for coming along and asked only one thing “that everyone had a good time” - and so they did.
During the night music provided by Nolly and John Alec kept everyone on their toes with the Chief Fire Officer Mr. Murray being tempted up for a quick spin.
A competition to guess how many fire calls Benbecula crews had attended over the years from the very first one to the latest one was won by Mrs. Isobel Graham (Orasay Inn). Isobel guessed to within 13 (lucky for her) of the 2986 fire calls with an answer of 2999. Strange to think of the coincidence, that in over the 30 years of service to the community nearly 3000 calls had been attended.
As the evening progressed a second competition was actively participated in to attempt the winning of a bottle of fine spirit ‘won of course by the chief fire officer’ shouted from the floor came the words “fix” but all was fair in the fire service and the chief ensured everyone was sorted out with a wee dram.
Good food, good company and the thoughts of ‘what will they do for the 40th?
Benbecula Firefighters to meet the Queen
Sub Officer Alasdair MacVicar and Leading Fire Fighter Donald MacIsaac are to be presented to Her Majesty the Queen during a ceremony to be held in Buckingham Palace during February, they will be accompanied by Assistant Divisional Officer Alan Rayner who found himself dealing with the storms of January 2005, alongside the crew from Benbecula Fire Station as well as crews from across the Uist's.
They will be joining other emergency service personnel and rescue workers from across both the UK and other areas of the world in order to be recognized for their efforts and commitment.
The ceremony to be held during the evening of the 15th of February will recognise not only the work carried out by the 500 representatives present but the continuing work carried out throughout the emergency services by all emergency service personnel UK wide.
