A firefighter says he still “enjoys” going out to fight fires after being honoured for 40 years of service to Tranent Community Fire Station.
Brian Haddow, 61, has lived in Tranent all his life and joined the service nearly 42 years ago after a brief conversation with the person in charge of the retained station at the time.
Brian told the Courier: “I was speaking with the guy who ran the station at the time who told me that they were looking for bodies and would I be interested.
“I applied and I was taken in straight away. It was really as simple as that and I’ve been there ever since.”
Brian has been a part of many callouts and said he recalled a lot of incidents.
He said: “I enjoy going out to fires. That seems crazy to say, but I do. There’s a sense of community about it and being a part of helping people feels good.
“I do hate car crashes, though, those are never enjoyable and are one of the harder parts of the job.”
Brian was one of more than 80 firefighters involved in the Cowgate fire in Edinburgh in 2002, which took place in a complex of 11 buildings and saw a number of buildings destroyed.
Brian recalled the incident: “That was a very busy night. We had to be well organised and were called in after the Edinburgh service had began to tackle the initial fire.
“We were there for a long time and I remember it was a case of letting the fire come to us rather than attacking it, so we had to remain organised.
“It was a lot of precautionary stuff we were doing because we didn’t know where the fire was coming out from so we were trying to ensure it didn’t spread.”
Brian also recalled how the service had changed over his four decades there.
He said: “The equipment has certainly improved over time!
“When I first started, some of the equipment just melted in fires but now things are a lot more advanced, which has its benefits.
“The training has also got more difficult, but I think part of that has to do with me getting a bit older now!”
Brian has been married to wife Dawn for close to 40 years.
He has four children – Louise, Stuart, Craig and Gillian – and Stuart has followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the fire service in South Queensferry.
Reflecting on the job, Brian said he had enjoyed the experience, adding that even after 40 years, being called out to an incident was still exhilarating.
He said: “When you get that call, your adrenaline definitely does go up.
“You don’t really know what you’re going to be faced with and it’s about planning ahead.
“I’m quite experienced now, so it’s maybe not quite the same feeling as it is for someone new, but I still get that buzz.
“I would absolutely recommend the job to anyone. I’ve really enjoyed it and it doesn’t feel at all like over 40 years since I joined.
“I won’t be carrying on too much longer.
“It used to be that the retirement age was 55 and there was a reason for that. That has all changed now but I won’t be planning on going on too much longer I don’t think.”
Brian is the longest serving member of Tranent Community Fire Station where he works on call after retiring from his job at Standard Life last year.
He was presented with his award at a ceremony in Dunfermline.
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