Dalbeattie Fire Station staged an open day on Sunday, May 14 to mark the opening of a community garden created from waste ground attached to the facility.
Generous donations of materials from local businesses including Scotlee Plant, Armstrong Renewables, BSW Timber, MKM Building Supplies, Grange Quarries, John Jardine Plant, Hoddam, Robertsons and the Woodland Trust underpinned the project.
And Dalbeattie crew and other members of SFRS put in a power of work to get the garden ready in time.
The new facility is open to community groups visiting the station for fire safety related activities – and will also be used as a place of reflection for crew members.
Dalbeattie crew also announced the installation of a defibrillator at their front door on the day.
Station commander Claire McNay said: “This was donated by the Drummond family on behalf of Ewan Hitchell, a former firefighter from Dalbeattie, who sadly succumbed to a cardiac arrest.
“Ewan was fundraising for a defibrillator when he passed away. His widow Jennifer carried on with the fund raising for Dalbeattie community first responders and the end result was eight defibrillators and associated heated boxes.
“Amanda Mcaulay and Donna McKnight of Dalbeattie community first responders attended the open day to help promote CPR and defibrillator training with adults and children.”
SC McNay also made presentations to employers who allow on call firefighters to carry out their role in attending incidents and training courses, boosting operational resilience in the area.
“Our recruitment team was in attendance dealing with enquiries from members of the community interested in the role of on call firefighter. Thanks also to Police Scotland and 33 Air Solutions.”
