Firefighter’s shock to find son in car engulfed in flames
A firefighter who was sent to the scene of a car engulfed in flames recalled how she learnt her teenage son was the driver.
Wa t c h C o m m a n d e r G a l e Coates was sent to the scene of a fire at Ayton in Eyemouth, Scottish Borders, on 9 December 2008.
T h e m o t h e r - o f - t w o w a s shocked to hear her son’s voice as she approached bystanders, trying to find out who was the driver.
Her son Daniel, then aged 18, had been lucky to escape the fireball unharmed.
S h e h e a r d h i m s ay “Hiya , M u m”, a s h e r c o l l e a g u e s b egan dousing the car with water.
Ms Coates said: “My hear t stopp ed … and I think time stopped.
“It’s really unusual to turn u p t o a r o a d t r a f f i c c o l l i - sion incident where the car i s a l r e a dy a b a l l o f f l a me s .
“The car was that bad that it was impossible to tell what t ype of car it was or read its registration.”
She was aler ted at around 5pm and arrived a short time later at the unlit stretch of road on the B6355.
She said: “He was thankfully uninjured. It was nonetheless a frightening realit y for me and I think it really made him realise why I missed his birthday party when he was five – to help protect our community.
“If I can’t be there for my family when they need me most, how can I expect someone else to?”
She has amassed 27 years’ experience as a retained fire - fighter in Eyemouth, in the Borders.
She added: “I’ve learned a lot about myself over the years.
“I really have learned that t h e r e i s n o t h i n g t h a t y o u can’t actually do or achieve … b u t s o me t h i n g s d o t a ke a n aw f u l l o t o f h a r d wo r k .
“S a t i s f a c t i o n i s t h e b i g - gest thing you get from this job and, although there are times where you might not have been able to save someone, you can still help prevent something from potentially becoming even worse.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is looking for retained firefighters across S cotland and Ms Coates urged people in their local communities to join firefighters at their local fire station.
She said: “Whenever I get someone new in the station, t h e y a l w ay s s ay ‘ I ’v e b e e n thinking about this for ages’ – but, the thing is, we’ve been looking to recruit for ages.
“It’s usually because the person has built up the confidence to go for it but I just want to say to people to show that confidence b ecause we will help wherever possible.”