The Perth and Kinross Fire Area Administration Scheme Order, 1948

                Equipment                                                                                             Retained

                1 Standard Towing Unit with Light Pump mounted                       1 Leading Fireman
                1 Large Trailer Pump                                                                            9 Firemen

The Perth and Kinross Fire Area Administration Scheme Order, 1952

                Equipment                                                                                             Retained

                1 Pump Appliance                                                                                2 Leading Firemen
                                                                                                                                8 Firemen

Establishment 2000

                Equipment                                                                                             Retained

                1 Water Tender Ladder                                                                       1 Sub Officer
                                                                                                                                ? Leading Firefighters
                                                                                                                                ? Firefighters

Coupar Angus Factory Fire Causes

Over £60,000 Damage 

Damage estimated at over £60,000 was caused when two thirds of Caledonian Barbecue Company, Limited’s poultry processing station at Coupar Angus , was destroyed by fire early on Friday morning.
An area of 25,000 square feet was gutted by the blaze, which was attended by firemen from stations throughout the district, including Perth, Dundee, and Coupar Angus, where a new fire station was opened only the night before. The part of the factory which was destroyed contained valuable refrigerating equipment, as well as storage rooms and a packing bay.
During the height of the blaze several explosions rocked the building and an ammonia cylinder weighing 1 cwt. was blasted hundreds of feet into the air to land 600 feet from the factory across the main Perth – Coupar Angus road, firmly embedded in a bank. Another cylinder, containing acetylene gas, was also blown high in the air when it exploded but landed back in the factory.

Windows Shattered

No one was injured by the explosions, but windows in nearby houses were shattered by the blasts.
Mr and Mrs Arthur Croll, who live in a house on the main road near the factory, were watching the fire from their garden with their 10 year old son Brian, when they heard a terrific explosion. Said Mrs Croll later: “We were watching the fire when suddenly there was a tremendous explosion. I saw a cylinder soar high into the air and pass over our house. It landed with a thump in the bank across the road.
“It was just as well the cylinder landed where it did,” she added “for if it had hit the house or crashed onto the roadway, some of us would almost certainly have been injured by splinters.”
The alarm was raised when Mr G           PART MISSING           

            one to run to the town’s telephone exchange and call the brigade from there.

Eight fire appliances hastened to the blaze and firemen managed to save part of the factory, Mr Alexander Masson, Perth’s firemaster, directed operations. Firemen were still on the scene 10 hours later, but the blaze had been completely extinguished and only the gutted factory shell remained. It is believed that the outbreak started in the carton store.
The factory employs 85 workers, but Mr Ian Rattrie, general manager, said there was no question of anyone being paid off at this stage. The men will be kept busy clearing the rubble, and the girls can work in the undamaged processing departrment, where they can bring the birds right up to the refrigeration stage, he said.
The premises were taken over from Smedley’s Ltd., only seven months ago, and has a weekly output of 30,000 birds. Production would continue this week on a limited basis, added Mr Rattrie.
<PHOTO> Four members of Perth and Kinrodd Fire Brigade received long service awards at the opening of Coupar Angus Fire Station. They were (l. to r.) – Station Officer W. Scott, Perth; Fireman J. Reekie, Perth; Sub Officer C. Kilgour, Alyth; Fireman R. McGregor, Perth.
(Perthshire Advertiser  

Factory Blaze Followed Opening of Fire Station 

<PHOTO> Coupar Angus Fireman raced from their new station, opened only the night before (see extreme right) to fight a blaze which destroyed two thirds of the nearby Caledonian barbecue Company Limited’s poultry processing plant and caused £60,000 worth of damage, on Friday.
<PHOTO> Provost J. Davidson, Coupar Angus, sets off a mock fire alarm to open the new fire station in the town, unaware that the alarm was to ring in earnest only hours later. (see left)
(Perthshire Advertiser

If you know of any mistakes in this or have any additional information please let me know.