Fundraising firefighter stands down

IT was over and out from one of Buckie’s longest serving firefighters and fundraisers when he hung up his uniform for the last time. Exactly four decades on from October 1, 1978, when watch manager Alan Cruickshank joined Buckie’s retained firefighters as a raw recruit, he said a poignant farewell to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) at a special ceremony in the town’s fire station. As well as saving lives and helping those in danger Mr Cruickshank, along with a dedicated team of fundraisers at the station, have helped raise in excess of £50,000 for the Firefighters’ Charity and a great many local good causes. Mr Cruickshank (62) confessed to a early fascination with the fire brigade, as it was then known, and as a small boy was often the first at the old fire station near the family shop when the alert siren went off and the retained fire crew came running. At the age of 22, he joined up himself. “It was something I always wanted to do, to do my bit for the community,” Mr Cruickshank told the Advertiser. “I didn’t join up with any expectations of what it’d be like, I just got on with it. “I’ve loved the camaraderie with the boys down the years and I’ve seen a lot of them come and go. After 40 years, though, I felt it was time to go and pass things on to a younger generations. “The job has changed a lot in 40 years. When I first started out we had a fair bit of chimney and chip pan fires but that’s pretty
much a thing of the past. My first shout, in fact, was a chimney fire at Clochan. “There’s a lot more health and safety now and we use computers a lot more. “It’ll be strange having Monday nights to myself and not having to go to training.” In a career spanning four decades, Mr Cruickshank has seen a good many incidents, but four particularly stuck in his memory. The huge Cullen House blaze of 1987 was first to mind – a fire Mr Cruickshank and is colleagues spent all day at, this being a time where being relieved after four hours fighting a blaze was unheard of. Fast forward to 2002 and the St Andrew’s Hotel incident was next, while the inferno which swept through Haldane’s supermarket nine years later also sprang to mind. In a rather rueful vein in the 1980s was the moment when the roof of Buckie fire station itself went on fire after a blowlamp being used to undertake repairs was knocked over. However, Mr Cruickshank will be remembered not only for his work fighting fires and the like, his significant contribution to charity will also not be forgotten. He was first inspired to raise funds for the Firefighters’ Charity and local groups after falling off a ladder at work and smashing his elbow. A surgeon told him his firefighting days were over but a total of six weeks’ physio at the Firefighters’ Charity at Penrith
saw him return good as new. The next year he began a programme of fundraisers which would collect around £30,000 for the charity and a further £20,000 for groups in the local area. Paying tribute to his colleague of 32 years, Buckie fire station watch manager Dougie Annand said: “Alan has been a fantastic person to work with and I’m very grateful indeed to have such an excellent right hand man. “Forty years with the service is phenomenal and it shows just how dedicated Alan was to the station, not to mention the vast amount of experience he takes with him. “He’s one of the longest serving firefighters at Buckie fire station and he’ll be sorely missed.” Mr Annand went on to praise Mr Cruickshank’s wife, Margaret, and his family for the support given to him during his years of service, the type of support he said all the retained firefighters at the station needed from their partners. He then presented Mr Cruickshank with a commemorative plaque on behalf of the Buckie crew. There were more gifts to come on behalf of the SFRS from group manager John Morgan, who presented Mr Cruickshank with a figurine of a firefighter plus a certificate of retiral. He added: “Forty years is absolutely outstanding – I’ve got 30 years and you make me look like I’m just getting started. “Your calmness and quiet ability to point things out [in an emergency] is going to be desperately missed.”