Brechin fire station opened its doors for a half-century celebration of its Scott Street base.
And one crew on shift during the town’s most recent major drama shared their experience of the night Storm Babet struck.
White Watch were called into action on October 19 last year as the River South Esk hit record levels.
Brechin firefighters are flood response trained.
But the scale of the disaster which unfolded was beyond anything they had previously experienced.
So visitors to Saturday’s event were able to hear first-hand the challenges the retained firefighters faced.
It was just part of a day-long programme charting the 50-year history of the community station.
Scott Street replaced the previous base at Southesk Street base which had served Brechin since 1939.
The station cost £50,000 to build in 1974.
Multi-agency turnout for open day
Crew commander Phil Duthie led the organisation of an event which pulled together other emergency services including Police Scotland, the Scottish Ambulance Service and mountain rescue.
Although Brechin crew numbers are strong at around the 20 mark, the service always hopes for new interest.
And Kim Elder has recently become Brechin’s first trained female firefighter.
Phil said it was a good opportunity to thank the town for its support, raise funds for local causes and showcase the station’s capability.
“Storm Babet has obviously been our biggest incident for some time,” he said. “Our initial call-out that night was at 7.40pm.
“We were helping Police Scotland evacuate River Street and the surrounding area.”
And despite returning to station around 1am it was a brief respite before the crisis escalated.
Just before 3.30am the river topped the town’s flood wall, triggering a major emergency reponse.
Brechin’s water team were joined by others from Dundee, Aberdeen and Fife as well as the Coastguard to rescue people from many more homes.
Our photographer Kim Cessford captured the 50th anniversary event.
