Fire engines are to be removed from communities in Fife and Tayside under “devastating” fire service budget cuts.
Firefighters have voiced strong safety concerns at the move that will see appliances cut from 10 stations across Scotland, including four in Fife.
Methil and Glenrothes will both lose one fire engine, leaving just one at each base.
And Kirkcaldy will see its height appliance removed, while the third appliance in Dunfermline will also go.
Dundee is also affected, with appliances at Kingsway East cut from two to one. And in Perth, the combined aerial platform will be replaced with a dedicated height platform.
The Fire Brigade Union (FBU) claim the cuts will undoubtedly place the public and fire service staff at increased risk.
FBU regional chairman Gus Sproul insists the Methil nightclub fire of May 14 would have had disastrous consequences had it happened after the changes.
“That whole block of flats would have been destroyed and more families may have lost their homes, or worse,” he said.
Fire service facing £43m of budget cuts
Assistant chief fire officer David Farries says the removal of appliances from September is temporary.
However, Mr Sproul said: “The term they are using is ‘mothballed’ but we say nothing that’s taken away is ever returned.”
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has to make £11 million of budget cuts this year, rising to £43m over the following four years.
This follows tens of millions of pounds of cuts and 1,100 job losses over the last decade.
‘Less safe in homes’
Mr Sproul said: “That means there are fewer people to resolve incidents, which is clearly less safe for communities.”
He added: “What’s happening in Fife is nothing more than the effect of those budget cuts.
“And the constituents of the affected communities have now to decide if they want to accept being less safe in their homes.
“Fife has seen numerous large-scale fires, devastating flooding and countless other incidents over the past couple of years.
“Last week’s incident in Methil highlights how important it is to have enough people in the early stages of any fire incident.
“When the Scottish Government announced their resource-based spending review last year, we said it would be devastating and here we are.”
The FBU insists it is “absolutely opposed” to the cuts and has pledged “to fight to maintain the level of safety and security that Fife deserves.”
Fife situation is ‘unfair and dangerous’
Mr Sproul says that while the news may come as a shock to communities and MSPs, it was no surprise to firefighters.
He said: “Even the Chief Fire Officer said in his submission to the Justice Committee last year, that we would have to protect our communities ‘as best we can’.”
Alarmed Fife councillor Ken Caldwell said it was “unfair and dangerous” to remove appliances from both Methil and Glenrothes.
Mr Caldwell, a former firefighter turned SNP councillor for Methil and Buckhaven, said: “These stations provide back-up to each other if more than the current two appliances are required to tackle an incident.”
He claims the cuts will mean it takes longer for support to arrive.
“In a fire or road traffic accident speed is of the essence and could make the difference between saving or losing a life, or saving and losing a home.
“With the recent large fires we’ve had in Levenmouth recently, this could have had even worse consequences, with potentially even more businesses being lost on Leven High Street.”
Pumps will have ‘least impact on response times’
The assistant chief fire officer confirmed the SFRS was implementing a “temporary withdrawal” of second and third appliances from 10 stations.
Mr Farries said: “We will always ensure the resources we have and our people are best placed to protect communities.
“Following a robust review of our data, we have identified ten fire stations where we can temporarily remove an appliance with the least impact on response times.
“This also reinforces our commitment to ensuring a full crewing model for our existing resources.
“These are second or third appliances can at times be unavailable for a number of reasons.
“When this is the case, we have to increase our use of overtime or bring firefighters from other stations to cover absences.
“This represents an unplanned disruption and ultimately comes at a cost to the service.”
Mr Farries says the vehicles that can operate at height would be reduced on a phased basis.
“This decision is based on robust data which tells us how busy these appliances are and the types of incidents we attend,” he said.
More firefighters in Scotland than rest of UK
“As we strive to modernise our service, it’s right and proper to identify efficiencies to deliver value for money while maintaining operational resilience.
“We will continue to review our position moving forward.”
The Scottish Government said the SFRS budget for 2022-23 was £45.3m higher than five years ago.
And the number of firefighters per head of population is higher in Scotland than in other parts of the UK.
It said the allocation of resources and responding to incidents was a matter for the fire service.
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