Kirkwall Community Fire Station

31/08/2026

📟 August Incident Round-Up 📟

Here's a look at what Kirkwall crews responded to throughout August.

During this month we have responded to 13 incidents 🚒

5 × Smoke Detector Activations
2 × Fires in the Open
2 × Vehicle Fires
1 × Domestic Smoke Investigation
1 × Animal Rescue
2 × Assisting Partner Agencies

Responding to incidents is only one part of what our crews do, and August has also been a busy month out in the community.

🏠 We visited the new Kirkjuvagr Care Home, where crews met with senior staff to discuss fire safety and operational considerations, as well as taking the opportunity to familiarise ourselves with the building, its layout and access.

🚒 We had a great day at the Orkney Vintage Rally, meeting members of the public and giving people the chance to have a closer look at some of our appliances and equipment.

🔥 Crews have also been carrying out Home Fire Safety Visits throughout the month, offering advice and guidance on how people can stay safe in their homes and helping to reduce the risk of fire.

From emergency response and prevention work to getting out and engaging with our community, it’s been another varied and busy month for Kirkwall crews 🚒📟

21/08/2026

🚒DID YOU KNOW?🚒

Did you know that some of our Kirkwall firefighters are Safe Working at Height (SWAH) Level 2 trained?

This allows our crews to use specialist rope equipment to safely access and assist casualties in difficult or exposed locations.

With Orkney's cliffs and rugged coastline, it's a pretty useful skill to have!

📸 Here's a look at some of our crews putting those skills into practice during SWAH training around Orkney.

13/08/2026

🚒 FireSkills 2026 🚒

A huge well done to all eleven young people who successfully completed this year’s 10-week FireSkills programme!

It was a real pleasure for crews here at Kirkwall, alongside our colleagues in Stromness, to be involved in the programme and to see the young people grow in confidence and develop their skills over the ten weeks.

They threw themselves into everything that was asked of them, from practical firefighting activities to teamwork, communication and problem-solving - and should all be incredibly proud of what they achieved!

Congratulations to you all, and very well deserved!

🚒Just before the Summer break we were delighted to celebrate the achievements of eleven incredible young people who have successfully completed the 10-week Fireskills Award!🚒

Delivered in partnership by Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and Orkney Islands Council’s Community Learning, Development and Employability (CLDE) Service, the programme has provided young people with an amazing opportunity to develop new skills, build confidence and prepare for life beyond the classroom.

Over the 10 weeks, the young people learned a range of valuable skills, from life-saving techniques and practical firefighting skills to teamwork, leadership, communication, resilience and problem-solving.

Fireskills is about so much more than firefighting. It’s about believing in yourself, trying new things, working together and developing the skills and confidence to make a positive difference in your community.

We were incredibly proud to see each young person receive their Level 4 Fireskills Employability Award, alongside completing either a Dynamic Youth or Youth Achievement Award.

A huge congratulations to all the young people for their tenacity, commitment and hard work throughout the programme. You should be incredibly proud of what you have achieved!

Also a massive thank you to the teams at Stromness and Kirkwall Fire Stations, our dedicated youth workers and the schools who have supported Fireskills this year and in previous years. Your continued commitment makes opportunities like this possible.

Kirkwall Grammar School Stromness Academy Kirkwall Community Fire Station SFRS-Orkney

06/08/2026

🚒 From the Archives 🚒

The Garden’s Fire – Saturday 5 March 1938

At around 2:50am on Saturday 5 March 1938, Kirkwall awoke to what newspapers would describe as the worst fire the town had ever experienced.

Known locally as “The Garden’s Fire”, the blaze broke out at the rear of Messrs. R. Garden Ltd.’s premises on Bridge Street, before rapidly taking hold.

The fire was discovered by Edward D. Arnott, the company’s head baker, who noticed an ominous glow reflecting through the bakery windows. Investigating further, he found the rear of the drapery department ablaze and immediately raised the alarm.

Within minutes, the blaze was rapidly spreading through the premises.

Kirkwall’s volunteer firefighters arrived to face an almost impossible task. The brigade had no motorised fire engine, relying instead on a hand-drawn manual pump, while desperately low water pressure severely hampered their efforts. Firefighters, volunteers and local residents worked side by side, forming bucket lines from private water supplies and even the harbour.

Realising the premises could no longer be saved, the brigade concentrated on preventing the fire from spreading to neighbouring properties. A decision that almost certainly prevented an even greater disaster. Burning debris was carried on the wind as far as Craigiefield House, families living in Bridge Street, Shore Street and Garden Street were evacuated, and fears grew for the nearby Shell-Mex oil depot.

By dawn, the premises had been devastated. Damage was estimated at £12,000 - equivalent to just over £1 million today. Although there were hopes of rebuilding, the outbreak of the Second World War the following year changed priorities, and the original buildings were never rebuilt.

Today, Garden Square has been transformed into a popular leisure and entertainment destination, home to a bowling alley, nightclub, amusement arcade and a variety of takeaway food and drink businesses. It’s hard to imagine that this bustling corner of Kirkwall was once the scene of one of the town’s most significant fires and where the determination of Kirkwall’s volunteer firefighters helped prevent an even greater disaster.

02/08/2026

Thank you Orkney Vintage Club!

A huge thank you to the Orkney Vintage Club for inviting us along to the Mart today. We had a fantastic day and it was a pleasure to be part of such a great event.

It was lovely to meet so many of you, have a chat, show you around our fire appliances, and see so many smiling faces having a go with the fire hose! We hope you all enjoyed it as much as we did.

🚨 Lost Property 🚨
This Marvel Avengers Assemble cap was left behind in one of our fire appliances today.
If you recognise it, or know who it belongs to, please let us know. We'd be really grateful if you could share this post and tag anyone who was at the Mart today to help us get it back to its rightful owner.

A big thank you once again to everyone who came along and made the day so enjoyable. We look forward to seeing you all again soon!

31/07/2026

📟 July Incident Round-Up 📟

Here’s a look at what Kirkwall crews responded to throughout July.

During this month, we have responded to 13 incidents 🚒

3 × Automatic Fire Alarms (AFA)
3 × Smoke Detector Activations
2 × Dwelling Fires
1 x Road Traffic Collision (RTC)
1 x Fire in the Open
1 x Domestic Smoke Investigation
1 x Assist the Scottish Ambulance Service with gaining entry to a property
1 x Assist the Scottish Ambulance Service with the extraction of a casualty

29/07/2026

Do you know the history of the Fire Service in Orkney?

1882 to 1886 Volunteer Fire Brigade
1887 to 1941 Kirkwall Fire Brigade
1941 to 1948 National Fire Service
1948 to 1975 Northern Area Fire Brigade
1975 to 1983 Northern Fire Brigade
1983 to 2005 Highland and Islands Fire Brigade
2005 to 2013 Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service
1/4/2013 to Present Scottish Fire and Rescue Service

Like and follow our page to keep up with further interesting photos and posts.

29/07/2026

We’ll be at the Orkney Classic Motor Show this Sunday the 2nd of August at the Orkney Auction Mart!

We’ll have one of our fire appliances with some of the Kirkwall crew there throughout the day 🚒

Come along, have a look around the appliance, meet the crew and say hello!

📍 Orkney Auction Mart
📅 Sunday 2nd August
⏰ 10am – 5pm

There’ll be plenty of classic vehicles and machinery to see too, so it should be a great day out!

Hope to see you all there! 🚒🔥

28/07/2026

Welcome to our new page 🚒

We’ll be using this page to share a little more of what goes on here at Kirkwall Community Fire Station - from training and station life to community events, fire safety information and updates from our crew.

We’re proud to serve Kirkwall and the wider Orkney community, and we’re looking forward to giving you a bit more of a look behind the scenes at what we do 🚒🔥

Give the page a follow and feel free to share it with friends and family.

Kirkwall Community Fire Station

🚨 Please remember: this page is not monitored for emergency incidents. In an emergency, always call 999.