Features / ‘Big shoes to fill’ – Walls station commander Bob Hudson leaves fire service after 43 years
“IT HAS been an inspiration and an absolute privilege to serve my community.”
That’s how Bob Hudson summarises almost 43 years as a retained fire fighter in Walls, the last 25 years as watch commander at the small Westside station.
“It has meant the world to me, it really has,” he continues, “you don’t do it for the money, because if you did you would be sorely disappointed; you do it for the good of the community.”
Now the 65-year-old is hanging up his boots. It’s a big decision, and it hasn’t been an easy one.
“I will be retained fire fighter until Friday, but I am staying on with HM Coastguard [where he is the Walls deputy station officer] and with my daytime job at Hughson Brothers,” he tells Shetland News this week.
“I don’t think I would want to lose all three jobs at the same time.”
Back in 2016 he had two knee replacements, and the fire brigade’s training requirements are increasingly difficult to meet. So, he decided to go before being pushed.
“I certainly don’t want to become a burden on the crew,” Bob says, summing up his decision.
It all started when he and his then girlfriend Norma moved from Lincolnshire to Shetland in 1978 “to stay for a couple of months maybe”, as he puts it.
That’s now almost 50 years ago, and he has loved every minute of it. He joined the local fire brigade in 1983 following a serious house fire in Walls and the local voluntary coastguard team three years later.
He worked his way up through the ranks, became sub-officer and then watch commander in 2000, a role that puts him in charge of the crew as well as of incidents they are called out to.
Looking back over more than four decades of service, it goes without saying that the job and the equipment has changed enormously since the early 1980s. Crews are much better equipped these days with breathing apparatus and cutting gear.
One thing that hasn’t changed though is talk about a new fire station for Walls.
“There has been promises for a new fire station for the last 43 years, every boss who comes up to Shetland says, ‘we get you this and we get you that’ and they always finish by saying ‘I can’t promise but I do what I can’,” Bob sums up the politics that surrounds the fire service, not just in Shetland but across the country.
“Now they recognise that Bressay, Hillswick and Walls need to be upgraded but the finances are just not available.
“I was hoping there would be a new station before I left but unfortunately that hasn’t happened.”
And so, the station at Walls continues to be used as a fire station, local crews still do some of their training there, but since there are no proper facilities at Walls they need to go to Bixter, Scalloway or Lerwick for a proper shower after any incident.
There is no doubt that Bob will be kept busy even without the fire station.
He says he is looking forward to a time when he doesn’t need to worry about the pager going off in the middle of the night, and not knowing what will be required of him and his crew.
“The fire brigade has been my life, but it has been 24/7,” he says. “It would be nice to go to bed without thinking that pager could go off tonight.
“Because it is not just you who is getting up, it’s your family too. They are all woken up and are worrying what it is you are going to and when you will be coming back.”
He adds: “I will find things to do, that’s not a problem. I will be around, and I still will be going down to the fire station once in a while.”
Paying tribute, Shetland group commander with the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Matt Mason described Bob’s retirement as “a real loss to all of us” and added that his were “big shoes to fill for whoever steps in to that leadership role”.
“Not many people have reached more than 40 years of service, and Bob is as keen today as he has ever been. His passion, pride and commitment are incredible,” he said.
“The Walls fire station is not what we want it to be, but despite that Bob leads his team incredibly well and you can feel a real energy when you go out there; he really brings the place to life.
“Being an on-call fire fighter is a real challenge for the whole family. A big thanks on behalf of the service not just to Bob but also to his wife Norma and daughter Emma.
“Without their support Bob would not have been able to serve the community the way he has.”
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