A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) Crew Commander received a local hero recognition at an event held at Holyrood to mark the 25th anniversary of the opening of the Scottish Parliament.
Gary Carroll, KFSM (King’s Fire Service Medal), was invited to attend the Holyrood event as a local hero by Audrey Nicoll, MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine, and Convener of the Criminal Justice Committee.
Gary is based at SFRS Portlethen Training Centre and is the dog handler to urban search and rescue (USAR) dogs, Coorie and Mac.
MSPs invited constituents from their area for making an extraordinary contribution and Gary joined other local heroes from around the country. They shared their stories and met The King and Queen Camilla.
As a dog handler and part of the International Search and Rescue (ISAR) team, Gary has been deployed overseas on four separate occasions. Most recently he assisted in Morocco following an earthquake last year. He was also part of teams mobilised to earthquakes in Sumatra in Indonesia in 2009, Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011, and Nepal in 2015.
Gary started his career as an on call firefighter in Aberdeenshire in 1993 before becoming a wholetime firefighter in 1999. After several years working operationally, he moved into the research and development team, before joining the training team to support new and experienced firefighters. He first became interested in the dog handler role twenty years ago and began training his dog Diesel, eventually becoming fully qualified. Gary and Diesel were soon put to work in the Service. This was the first ever K9 team in the SFRS.
Gary said: “It was an honour to be invited to this event and to meet The King and Queen Camilla. It was also great to meet the other invited local heroes and to hear their inspirational stories. I wish to thank Audrey for this invitation and for this recognition.”
Audrey Nicoll MSP for Aberdeen South and North Kincardine said: “It was an honour to invite Crew Commander Gary Carroll to Holyrood as my local hero in celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Scottish Parliament. Gary's dedication to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, both at home and overseas, along with his work with search and rescue dogs, was truly inspiring. His unwavering commitment to saving lives, embodies the spirit of service and community that should be celebrated. It was a privilege to recognise his invaluable contribution to our communities and I'm so proud to call him my Local Hero.“
After returning from the earthquake zone in Morocco, two firefighters from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service say the resilience and generosity of the people they helped will stay with them.