ONE OF the biggest shake-ups of the fire service in Tayside for many years was unveiled yesterday, with the man in charge of the proposals insisting it would “drive down risk” while the union representing firefighters warned of potential industrial action.

At the heart of the changes outlined by chief fire officer Stephen Hunter is a switch of crews from Balmossie fire station in east Dundee to Forfar and a juggling of personnel that will see an extra crew created in Perth.

The plans are the result of months of work that have seen a computer model filled with data on Tayside’s changing population, five years’ worth of fire statistics, including the correlation between deprived areas and higher call-out rates, and the road network and speed limits.

All this information was then used to run through more than 250 “what if?” scenarios to work out where the greatest risks lay and how best to tackle them.

Mr Hunter said, “This is not about providing more resources and, probably more importantly, it is not about providing less resources. This work has been about identifying how we can use our existing resources to best effect to increase the safety of the communities we serve from fire and other emergencies.”

Balmossie fire station serves the Barnhill, Panmurefield and Broughty Ferry areas of Dundee, along with Monifieth. This is an area popular with house builders and has seen substantial growth in population, especially along the A92 corridor.

However, Tayside Fire and Rescue’s proposals would see it lose 24-hour cover from full-time crews. Instead the full-time firefighters would work only a dayshift, with retained crews covering the nightshift.

Mr Hunter insisted that the fire statistics backed this move. Between April 2007 and March this year, he said, Balmossie had been called out to only three house fires between 8pm and 8am. The recently-built homes had hard-wired smoke alarms, so residents did not even have to remember to change batteries.

He also pointed to the recent fire at the Spice restaurant in Broughty Ferry. Crews from Balmossie and the Kingsway fire stations had been alerted at the same time and it was the one from Kingsway which arrived first.

“I live in Broughty Ferry and the deputy chief fire officer lives in Monifieth. We are more than content that the community—including ourselves—are getting a service with a high level of emergency response,” he said.

The Fire Brigade Union secretary Jim Malone claimed the move would have a “huge impact” on the area and the union believed it would be a detrimental change.

The FBU has raised the possibility of industrial action. Mr Hunter said he was disappointed this was being talked about so early in a consultation process that will run well into next year, especially as the package was based on evidence and professional judgment.

The rest of the measures have, however, received a warmer welcome from the FBU and the Fire Officers Association.

The only full-time firefighters in Angus at present are based in Arbroath. Shifting posts from Balmossie to Forfar will allow the creation of a full-time day shift that will cover the town and also be able to respond to incidents in Kirriemuir and further north.

Mr Hunter said, “We will have a tremendous ability to reduce risk in Angus.”

He was equally positive about the changes planned for Perth, where the introduction of a new aerial rescue pump, combining the capabilities of two existing machines, will free up eight full-time firefighters to create an extra day shift crew.

Tayside Fire and Rescue is now planning to give presentations on the proposals to the region’s three councils, MPs and MSPs and community councils. A public consultation document will be published in November and it will be next May at the earliest before the fire board decides whether to go ahead.

Mr Malone said, “We acknowledge they have taken cognisance of the FBU’s efforts to show we needed an extra pump in Perth and extra resources in Forfar, but we certainly don’t agree with the detrimental changes to fire cover in Dundee. We believe it is a retrograde step for both firefighters and the public. Overall, we believe the picture is less than promising.”

FBU branch chairman Ronnie Costello said he was concerned about response times to overnight incidents if Balmossie lost a full-time crew and had to depend on retained firefighters being alerted at home and then travelling to the station. That could have an impact wider than the east end, because Balmossie acted as back-up for Kingsway.

While he accepted that Balmossie had dealt with only three night-time house fires in a year, he pointed out that it was at night that people ran the greatest risk of dying in a blaze.

Stewart Edgar, of the Fire Officers Association, said members were happy to see the enhanced emergency response and community safety efforts in Angus and Perth and were also content with the retention of emergency response in Dundee. They also welcomed the launch of the consultation.

Angus councillor John Whyte, vice-convener of the fire board, is one of the ward members for Monifieth and Sidlaw.

He said, “I believe this proposal, in its entirety, offers the best balance between preventing fires and other emergencies from happening in the first place and providing the optimum emergency response cover for when emergencies occur, whilst achieving value for money.”