Tackling blazes, advising the elderly and rescuing animals are just a few of the varied roles carried out by a father-and-son team at Banff Fire Station.
Craig Predell joined the service three-and-a-half years ago as a retained fire fighter, responding to a pager whenever there is a call, after attending a recruitment fair and realising he could commit to the duties while keeping his main job.
But, unbeknown to him, his son Aiden was inspired by watching his work and became part of the team in Banff a year later.
The 21-year-old, wanting to give something back to the community, felt that joining the retained crew was a good way to achieve that ambition.
And the pair have worked alongside each other ever since, doing 120 hours a week on-call for the team.
45-year-old Craig recalled some of their most interesting call-outs where they were going into action side-by-side.
He said: “We were paged to a fire on a boat in November last year at Macduff Harbour.
“There were only four of us from Banff – the watch manager, the driver and us two.
“It was frantic getting the breathing apparatus on and then the two of us had the challenge of getting down into the bottom of the boat.
“You couldn’t tell what you were stepping on, because the smoke was thick and black, there could be nets, fuel, anything on a boat.
“It took a lot of communication that day and it was challenging, but we got it under control with the Macduff team.
“When the pager goes off, you don’t know what’s happened or what you’re being sent to, you just walk through the doors and get ready.
“We’re the same rank and we get on well, but as soon as that pager goes off, you all work as a team no matter who is there.”
The pair have attended various house fires, wild fires, rescued a horse which became wedged in its horse box, saved many gulls and helped deal with road accidents.
Aiden said: “It’s one of the most enjoyable jobs and we get to do it together.
“Prevention and protection is a big thing now, so we do home visits and fit smoke detectors for elderly people which is rewarding too.”
The station is currently recruiting new retained fire fighters to join the team.
Craig added: “If there’s any other father-and-son teams or people who want to get involved, it really is great as they teach you so many things.”
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