Highland firemaster remembered: how a Clach, Caley and Inverness Thistle footballer rose up the ranks to inspire and influence a generation of Scottish firefighters
It was a flair for football rather than burning ambition that first had Donald ‘Donnie’ Grant climbing up the fire service career ladder.
Back in the 1960s, the local fire service had a formidable team and the young striker’s prowess made him an attractive recruit.
That talent in the 20-year-old’s toes would see him play for all three town teams in the Highland League - Clachnacuddin (six years), Caledonian (two years) and Inverness Thistle (four years) - as well as many memorable fire service forays on the field of play.
Whatever breaks and good fortune football ability brought in his working life, those would be vindicated, though, by what he gave back.
As colleagues here testify, the positive influence he would come to exert would have a lasting positive impact on generations of younger, aspiring firefighters not only in the Highlands but throughout Scotland.
Mr Grant OBE, born in West Linton south of Edinburgh to a family with Highland roots, rose through the ranks to deputy firemaster and then firemaster by 1985.
It was a demanding role in the old Highland and Islands Fire Brigade and one that seldom promoted popularity, given the tough decision-making often requisite in the job.
Yet it says much of the man that past senior colleagues recall how he somehow managed to remain almost universally well-liked and thoroughly respected throughout the brigade.
A naturally modest man, Mr Grant told this newspaper not long before retiring in the mid-1990s: “I never joined the fire service thinking for a minute that I would be sitting here today (as firemaster). I never planned to be an officer.
“I think I’ve been very lucky and I would be the first person to realise that.
“I didn’t set a goal that I was going to be firemaster. Most of the things just happened.”
Mr Grant passed away peacefully at Raigmore Hospital on Sunday, February 2, at the age of 84. He was laid to rest by family, friends and colleagues in Inverness on Monday.
Inverness became home from an early age. At just six months old, his parents John and Christine Grant moved back north with older sisters Jean, Irene and Elizabeth, later joined by the arrival of youngest sibling, sister Jaye.
Schooled at Merkinch Primary, then the High School, the young Donnie was always sporty and football was a passion.
He became boot boy for Clach and went on to play for the ‘juveniles’ side Clach Rangers, with his promise attracting scouts from the rather larger Glasgow Rangers who wanted him to join their youth team.
Only 15 at the time, concerned dad John declined to give parental blessing.
Instead, he became an apprentice mechanical engineer with the firm Mackenzie and Co before the then-Northern Area Fire Brigade took notice of his football ability. He joined the day after finishing his apprenticeship in 1961.
As step-daughter Roslyn Main recounts: “At the time, they would say you didn’t even get to be a fireman unless you could play football! He was sort of head-hunted to join the Fire Brigade on the basis of his football skills.”
Mr Grant said in the Courier interview: “The fire service was looked on as a very secure job, which it still is today. That was the main reason I applied.
“One good thing about the fire service is that everybody starts as a firefighter. Nobody can come in at the middle. You start at the bottom and how far you get is entirely up to yourself.”
Secure it might be, but this was no cushy number. Candidates to join needed good lung capacity, a head for heights and other entry tests including vertigo and claustrophobia checks.
Mr Grant had to pass arithmetic and dictation exams and prove he could carry a 12-stone man for 100 yards in a minute.
Satisfying all criteria, he was sent to the Scottish Fire Service Training School at Gullane near Edinburgh for three months, winning the firemaster’s prize for best recruit.
Little did he know then, but by 1995, after stepping down as firemaster, he would return to the Gullane establishment as commandant, a role he fulfilled through to 2001.
He spent four years stationed in Thurso, returning to Inverness in 1971, rising to assistant then full divisional officer, then deputy firemaster in 1976.
As well as being a people person, he tirelessly attended fire brigade events and functions throughout the vast Highlands and Islands area - including a recruitment drive in Out Skerries off Shetland.
Another crucial role was overseeing the response to major critical incidents.
He later served as chairman of the Scottish branch of the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers’ Association; as advisor to the National Joint Council for Local Authorities’ Fire Brigades; and on Cosla’s proactive services committee.
Among the most infamous were major fires at the Inverness Railway Club, the old Playhouse cinema, Union Street’s Methodist Church, a vast forest fire at Carrbridge, the Queensgate Hotel fire and the Aviemore Four Seasons Hotel blaze.
His closest personal escape in frontline service came at a house fire in Old Edinburgh Road when a cylinder in his breathing apparatus became stuck in the joists. Luckily, he was hauled to safety by a colleague.
He kept talk of the horrors of the job, the tragedies and despair of pulling bodies from buildings, mostly within colleague circles, while admitting in interview: “I have had more than my fair share.”
Away from those distinguished working years, football remained an ever-present passion.
His exploits with Caley in 1964-65 brought a famous Scottish Cup victory over Raith Rovers and defeat to now defunct Third Lanark, with a goal from him in the 5-1 beating at Telford Street.
In the latter 80s, he served as referee and linesman.
He was also a prominent member of the UK-wide Fire Service Sports and Athletics Association, initially as a player, before heading up the organisation for a stint as president.
Not long before retirement, he said: “I enjoy going to my work. I have made many new friends throughout the UK and I have had a lot of happy times.
“Looking back, I definitely made the right move in joining the fire service all those years ago.”
Above all, Mr Grant was a natural when it came to coaxing and looking after staff.
While he was awarded a richly-deserved OBE, also earning the Queen’s Fire Service Medal (QFSM) for his dedicated service, he was just as comfortable conversing with the high and mighty as he was with colleagues and new recruits.
Ross Nixon, a retired Highland area group commander, recalls: “Donnie was an extremely well-respected and admired member of the Northern Area and Highlands and Islands fire brigade.
“That was not only for his meritorious service as firemaster but for his contribution and dedication to the fire service’s sports and athletics association, particularly football, across the UK.
“Donnie‘s influence on the fire service continues to be evident today.
“The current chief and deputy chief of the Scottish Fire and Rescue service were recruit firefighters while Donnie was commandant of the fire service training school in Gullane, East Lothian from 1995 to 2001.
The values of fairness, hard work and integrity that were the hallmarks of Donnie’s tenure as commandant therefore continue to be a thread woven into the fabric of today’s Scottish service.
Retired John Cheadle, a former divisional commander based in Inverness, served while Mr Grant was deputy firemaster to Bill Shand.
“The first thing that comes to mind when I think of Donnie is football!” Mr Cheadle said.
“While he was firemaster, he was president of the sports and athletics association for the whole of the UK and a real driving force in it.
“He was deputy when our Fire Brigade football team won the UK national championships. We only had about 60 or 70 to choose from, but they won against brigades of 3000 or more.
“Before I came up here, if you applied for a job as a firefighter, I’m told it helped greatly if you had a talent with a ball at your feet!
“Thankfully, Donnie really did. He went on to enjoy a fine career and became a very good deputy, then firemaster after Bill Shand retired, in my time.
“He was very popular, which is saying something for someone who serves as firemaster as you sometimes have to make some not very nice decisions.
“Donnie was a very friendly, chirpy character and seemed to get on with everybody.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s local senior officer for Highland, area commander Michael Humphreys, said: “Our thoughts are with Donald Grant’s family at this difficult time.
“Donald was a well-respected firefighter and officer, having served as Firemaster of the Highland and Islands Fire Brigade and Commandant of the Scottish Fire Service Training School in Gullane.
“Known as Donnie to many of his friends, he was responsible for shaping a great many fire service careers.
“He will be sadly missed by his family and former colleagues in the service.”
Mr Grant is survived by wife Pat, children Rosalyn, Jenny and Don and his beloved grandchildren Brittany, Shaun, Ellie, Amy, Teigan and Isla.
