Highland fire crews shortages sparks safety fears
Up to 15 fire stations in the Highlands are not available for 999 calls during the day because the national brigade cannot muster enough crew members.
Fire chief Scott Hay said the number of tenders which are often "off the run" was largely because of retained staff who were typically working away from their communities.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has said it is working hard to address recruitment issues and promoting the service in communities.
It comes after retired firefighter and current Highland councillor Fraser Parr warned earlier this month that station availability was the worst he had ever known.
Mr Hay, who is the SFRS’ senior Highland officer, said the problem reflected the "challenging situation" faced by retained staff in "making themselves available" in their home district.
"We are looking at approximately 10 to 15 appliances out of the 62 stations across the Highlands which are unfortunately not routinely available around the core hours of 9 to 5, Monday to Friday," he said. "Statistically, the majority of incidents occur in the evening, particularly life-threatening incidents like house fires."
Councillor Parr, who spent 30 years in the fire service, had warned the SFRS could "toil" to cope with major heath fires because so many stations were struggling for staff.
In the last couple of years, the brigade’s resources have been stretched by a glut of major fires across the region and Councillor Parr was worried it would find it tough to respond should there glut of 999 calls for heath fires.
Mr Hay insisted the fire service, which has recently revamped a wild fire forum and trained more than 100 officers to tackle moorland fires, would be prepared for any increase.
"We are ready should there be a spike in wild fires," he said.
Meanwhile, Michael Foxley, a SFRS broad member, said it needed to attract more women to join as retained firefighters and was exploring providing child care so parents could be freed up to respond to 999 calls.
But Dr Foxley warned it was up to communities to answer the recruitment calls. "It is about community resilience," he said. "The biggest threat to local fire services are the lack of availability of people. That is where we are."
