Experienced fire officer returns to take charge of area he started career
A long-serving firefighter has expressed his pride as he starts a new role overseeing fire and rescue operations across East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire and Inverclyde (ERRI) – returning to take charge of the area where he started his career.
Area Commander Kevin Murphy, 43, takes over as the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s Local Senior Officer for ERRI, 22 years after he joined the ranks as a firefighter based at Clarkston.
His new role will involve the responsibility for eight community fire stations across the three council areas. He will also oversee close collaboration with key partners, such as other blue-light services and local authorities, to improve and enhance the safety of local communities.
He said: “I’m hugely proud to come back to this area and to begin my new role as Local Senior Officer.
“While I’m not originally from East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire or Inverclyde, I know the areas well through my time based here.
“I’ve always held great admiration and been very respectful of the job our crews and all staff across the area do.”
Area Commander Murphy began his career in 2002 when he joined the then Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service and has also been based at Barrhead and Johnstone Community Fire Stations during his tenure.
The dad-of-three has also undertaken roles at SFRS HQ in Cambuslang, Ayrshire and Glasgow.
Reflecting on his career to this point, he said: “It’s been a bit of a lifelong dream to be honest, it’s all I ever spoke of when I was growing up – that I wanted to join the fire service.
“At the age of 17 I wrote a letter to the fire service to ask to join and was told that it would be better for me to go out and get a bit of life experience and some skills before thinking of applying.”
He became an apprentice engineer for Royal Mail, fixing the machines that process letters and parcels before reapplying to the fire service a few years later.
Originally from Ayrshire, Area Commander Murphy returns to the area again after recently taking charge of the large-scale fire at a Linwood recycling plant in June in which a huge smoke plume could be seen for miles across Renfrewshire and the west of Scotland.
He said: “It was a very challenging incident, clearly for the initial attending crews who had done a great job to create a safe working area.
“The building was very seriously damaged and there was a lot of debris lying about.
“Our crews had done a great job to protect the surrounding buildings as well.
“I took over as Relief Incident Commander the next morning. It was my role to maintain the safety of crews, continue firefighting operations and liaise with partner agencies.”
"My family are very proud. They’re always asking questions about my job and about the fire service."
Area Commander Murphy was also part of the team who responded to an explosion at a house in Gorse Park in Ayr in October 2021 which left homes and vehicles destroyed.
He recalled: “That was a difficult situation and one that will stay with me.
“I was driving into that housing estate in Ayr and still, hundreds of metres away from the incident, you were bumping over bricks, masonry and bits of wood that had been thrown out by the explosion.
“You knew straight away it was a very serious incident. It was my role immediately upon turning up to ensure the safety of everyone who was in attendance.”
Away from work, Area Commander Murphy enjoys spending time with his young family, who have a lot of admiration for the job he does. He enjoys watching sports, playing golf and is an avid fan of his local football team, Kilmarnock FC.
He said: “My family are very proud. They’re always asking questions about my job and about the fire service.
“They hear the phone calls and messages from incidents coming through my radio and see me going into the car and putting the blue lights on. You naturally do take that element of your role home.”