Plea for help due to worryingly low numbers of on-call Stewartry firefighters
Worryingly low numbers of on-call firefighters has led to the Stewartry’s fire service chief issuing a plea for help.
Chris Ross, the area station commander, revealed there is a recruitment issue right across the Stewartry and admitted he is concerned about levels of cover at some stations.
Gatehouse Fire Station’s on-call retained duty system has just 22 per cent availability – the worst rate of all 19 stations across Dumfries and Galloway.
This level of retained on-call firefighter availability falls well below the region’s average of 75 per cent and the Scottish average of 58 per cent.
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Meanwhile, New Galloway station’s availability rate is 50 per cent.
The issue was raised at Stewartry Area Committee on Wednesday when Station Commander Ross presented his annual fire service performance report for April 2023-March 2024.
Dee and Glenkens Councillor Andy McFarlane said: “Gatehouse still continues to be a concern in relation to the on-call retained firefighters.
“I’m wondering where we are in terms of trying to improve the figures on that.”
Mr Ross replied: “Gatehouse Station is one of my stations, and it is a concern around the crew levels there.
“There was a recruitment event at Kirkcudbright two weeks ago where we tried to encourage recruitment to the on-call stations in the Stewartry.
“I’m pleased to say we did have one applicant so it’s very early stages to see what happens there.
“But what happens at this point is that we have a suitability discussion and meeting.
“It’s quite an onerous responsibility being an on-call firefighter, so we try to make sure right from the start that everyone entering into the agreement knows exactly what the expectation is, and how it’s going to impact on their lives.
“So, that’s the stage where we’re at with that person.
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“However, I’m always keen for anybody who is interested to become an on-call firefighter in the wider Stewartry really to please approach a fire station.
“We’re more than willing to have a discussion with you to see if it would suit you, and indeed if you suit the service.
“This is because there’s a recruitment issue right across the Stewartry.”
Councillor Andy McFarlane also highlighted that there had been two recorded acts of violence against firefighters in the Stewartry over the last year, and asked for more information on what happened.
Mr Ross responded: “I don’t have the exact details, but acts of violence is quite a wide range of topics.
“It could mean anything from verbal abuse through to something very minor.
“I am not aware of any significant acts of violence that has resulted in injury to any of our firefighters in the whole of Dumfries and Galloway in the last 12 months.
“So, I can assume that these are very low figures.
“But we encourage our staff to report everything so that we can identify trends early and intervene as necessary.”