It’s embarrassing now but as a boy all I wanted to do was drive a fire engine and be a hero
CHIEF ON HIS 30-YEAR CAREER IN SERVICE
that was what it was about.” Alasdair joined the service as a trainee firefighter in 1983.
He worked with Essex County Fire and Rescue Service until 1992 before becoming a senior instructor at the Scottish Fire Services College from 1992 to 1994, the year he joined Tayside Fire and Rescue Service.
Now in charge of more than 9000 staff, he was recently awarded the OBE in the Queen’s birthday honours.
One of his first jobs in the chair was probably his toughest – admitting to Holyrood’s public audit committee in 2013 that cuts to the workforce were inevitable.
And it’s one part of his job that he struggles with.
As someone who has worked his way up through the ranks, he has a huge affinity with his 3600 full-time and 3000 retained firefighters.
He said: “This is a tough job being a senior officer and I worry about every single firefighter.
“The two things that worry me about this job are firefighter safety – because we’re asking them to work in an inherently dangerous job – and operational failure.
“It’s a privilege to be in the position to help the public in their greatest need but I always worry about not getting it right.
“Yes, we’ve got money and people worries – these are part of the job – but the two key areas are community and firefighter safety.”
The feelings he has towards the men and women under his command were brought into sharp focus during the bin lorry crash in Glasgow in December 2014.
Alasdair said: “The incident that haunts me the most was George Square. And I don’t use that lightly – remember I’ve been in the fire service for more than 30 years and I’ve been to house fires and road traffic collisions where families have been killed.
“I arrived about half-an-hour after it happened. When the first firefighter came over to brief me, he burst into tears and that created a huge emotional response in me.
“I feel a huge responsibility for all our firefighters but the tragedy of people that had been killed in George Square, with the Christmas lights on, everyone shopping, was difficult because we’ve all been there, thinking about what presents to buy our loved ones and looking forward to family time together.
“You have to remember firefighters are just people. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been in the job a few months or 30 years, you have a very human reaction. That firefighter’s reaction really struck me that day as well as the victims’ families – you just can’t put yourself in their position.”
Despite the grim reality of day-to-day life as a firefighter, the job can produce the odd smile – and without black humour and camaraderie it would be impossible to deal with the pressure of saving lives. As a young station officer in Essex, Alasdair told how he featured on the front page of the local newspaper making an unusual rescue. He said: “We went to a house fire and the lady of the house was getting married at the weekend and the only thing she wanted saved was her wedding dress.
“So I ran up the stairs and grabbed her wedding dress and was carrying it quite carefully and as I came out the front door the local press photographer snapped me with it. When it appeared in the papers, I got a fair bit of stick on the watch about it.”
Another thing that helps keep Alasdair on an even keel is his family and the pride he feels for all three of his sons.
He was the guest of honour at his firefighter son James’s pass-out parade and handed out certificates to successful students.
He said: “All his mates dared him to say, ‘Thanks Dad’ when he came up to me but it’s the one and only time in his life he’s called me sir.
“That was a very special family moment. I’m proud of my whole family and my boys, like all fathers – they’ve all done fantastically well.”
And when he landed the top job in October 2013 as the first ever Chief Officer, James asked him: “So what did you do that for dad?”
It’s a question Hay has never once asked himself about the job he loves – and one that is in his blood.
It doesn’t matter if you’ve done the job for 30 years, you have a human reaction
ALASDAIR HAY