A WOMAN has followed in her father’s footsteps by combining working on the family farm with being a firefighter.
Toni Dowling, 27, helps run a livestock farm near Killin in Perthshire in between regularly attending blazes, road traffic accidents and water rescues for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
She signed up to become an on-call firefighter in 2022 after a discussion at the farmhouse kitchen table when her dad Anthony mentioned the need for additional resources in the crew.
Anthony has been farming at Kinnell for over 30 years and it was when he first took on the farm, and was looking for some additional income, that a friend suggested he consider helping out at Killin Community Fire Station.
Toni has now completed her rigorous training and has joined her father as an on-call firefighter serving the local community.
She said: “We were sitting around the dinner table one night and my dad was telling me about how they needed some more people in the fire service.
“I think a couple of them were due to retire soon so I kind of jokingly thought ‘Oh well I could do it’.
“The more I thought about it the more I thought ‘I want to do that’.
“It’s been an amazing experience so far. I have absolutely loved all of the training and being part of a team.
“The team at Killin are amazing and their support has been instrumental in my development and growth.
“I love going on ‘shouts’, I can’t get enough of them. I’m excited to see what the future holds for me in the fire service.”
Anthony, 65, added: “It is very enjoyable. Obviously, you see and do things that are not particularly pleasant but then a lot of other times you’re working with a crew and it can be really good fun.
“It is a commitment. You need to have your family onboard unquestionably and there is a lot of training, but if I was starting now I would 100 per cent do it all again.”
Dougie Morrison, Crew Commander at Killin Community Fire Station, told how farmers often make very good firefighters.
He said: “We have a number of farmers and gamekeepers from the local community who are retained firefighters.
“They can have excellent problem-solving ability and they bring common sense and practicality to the service and an ability to work with machinery and equipment.”
The father and daughter duo have made a video with agricultural charity RSABI talking about their shared love of farming and the fire service.
Carol McLaren, Chief Executive of RSABI, said: “Scotland’s farming families quietly support rural communities throughout the year in a very wide range of ways, although very often there is little recognition of the many benefits this brings, including in some of the most remote parts of Scotland.
“Anthony and Toni are also shining a light on the benefits of getting off the farm. Being part of a team doing something very different can bring lots of personal benefits in terms of both mental and physical wellbeing.”
