SCOTLAND’S fire service is in “crisis” according to a new report, which found that low morale, underinvestment and budget cuts are impacting severely on firefighters’ ability to respond effectively to serious and life-threatening incidents.
Set to be released by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) tomorrow at the Scottish Parliament, the report titled Firestorm assessed the challenges faced by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).
It identified serious concerns with the situation in the fire service, with firefighters raising issues around response times, poor training, poor equipment and health concerns about fire contaminants.
One firefighter told the union that the SFRS had done “almost nothing” to combat the physical effects they experience as a result of fires.
The firefighter said: “The SFRS has done almost nothing (on contaminants) apart from provide wipes on appliances – that’s it. Patting yourself down with wipes after being exposed to a fire for hours just doesn’t cut it.”
The report also pointed to the condition of buildings in the SFRS estate, with 14 having issues with crumbly reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (Raac).
It claims there has been “some” investment in equipment but compared with other parts of the UK, it says in Scotland this has been slow and partial. One firefighter who was interviewed as part of the report said there were no personal issue respirators or adequate welfare facilities for larger incidents at their station.
Firefighters felt training was inconsistent and inadequate, with trainees coming into fire stations without having experience of “hot fire” training, which replicates the heat, smoke logging and conditions experienced in a variety of different fire settings.
Watch commanders also told the union they do not feel they have adequate or up-to-date qualifications to train their firefighters, with one reporting their breathing apparatus instructor certificate was 10 years old.
In a survey accompanying the report, around 93% of respondents told the FBU they did not believe the SFRS was “adequately resourced enough to deal with the increase in climate-related incidents such as wildfires and flooding”.
The report also called for the pension age of firefighters to be lowered from 60 to 55 as some feel they are unable to work in the challenging operational role until they are 60.
It called on the service to look at redeploying firefighters who still wish to work within the service into support roles such as fire safety or in control rooms, rather than recruiting civilians into the roles.
The FBU is currently consulting members over taking strike action in opposition to the cuts the union said have been imposed by the Scottish Government. A projected, five-year, flat cash budget, in place until 2027, has already removed 10 whole-time fire engines and 150 retained appliances are regularly unavailable due to significant recruitment and retention issues, the union said.
The SFRS said it will need to save a minimum of £14 million next year which could mean the loss of a further 339 firefighers and 18 fire engines, with more to come. Scotland has lost 1200 frontline firefighters since 2012, the union has previously claimed.
John McKenzie, Scottish secretary of the FBU, said: “We cannot go on like this, our members and the public have had enough. If the SFRS is to meet the challenges of our times, we need immediate and radical change and this report sets out what that should look like.
“Over the last decade we have been failed by political leaders who have tried to ignore this crisis. They cannot ignore us now.
“It is now up to the Scottish Government, SFRS management and all political parties to respond positively to this report, reverse the cuts and help build a fire and rescue service that aspires to be world-leading.”
SFRS chief officer Ross Haggart said: “We will take time to give full and proper consideration to the contents of this report and continue to work with all representative bodies, including the FBU, on potential impacts of any future savings and identify potential areas for improvement.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Whilst allocation of resources, along with recruitment and retention of firefighters, is an operational matter for SFRS, we are maintaining frontline services, with a higher number of firefighters in Scotland than other parts of the UK. Ministers will continue engaging with the FBU to discuss their concerns.”
