A long-serving firefighter has returned to oversee fire and rescue operations in the area - 22 years after first joining.

Area Commander Kevin Murphy, 43, is now the local senior officer for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service for East Renfrewshire, Renfrewshire, and Inverclyde (ERRI).

His new role will involve managing eight community fire stations and collaborating with other blue-light services and local authorities to enhance community safety in the three council areas.

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 here, 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.”

(Image: Scottish Fire and Rescue Service) He 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.

Kevin said: “It was always 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, Mr 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.

(Image: Newsquest) 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.”

The dad-of-three was part of the team who responded to an explosion at a house in Ayr in October 2021.

He said: "That was a difficult situation and one that will stay with me.

"It was my role immediately upon turning up to ensure the safety of everyone who was in attendance."

Mr Murphy enjoys family time and sports, saying: "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.”