Stuart and Catherine McIntosh live on the twelfth floor of a high-rise in Glenrothes
By Sean O’Neil
BBC Scotland
Residents of high-rise buildings fear they will face longer waits to be rescued amid planned Scottish Fire And Rescue Service budget cuts.
The concerns surround proposals to reduce the number of appliances at stations in Tayside, Fife and Glasgow.
Four engines are currently required to safely attend a high-rise blaze in Scotland.
The proposed cuts would reduce some of the affected stations to just a single appliance.
Stuart McIntosh has been reliant on his mobility scooter since suffering a stroke a number of years ago.
He and his wife Catherine live on the 12th floor of the Raeburn Heights complex in Glenrothes.
Under the current plan, the Fife town would be one of the stations left with just a single appliance.
Stuart told BBC Scotland: “Being disabled, for getting back down without using the lift, I would definitely need someone to give me a hand getting down the stairs.
“Obviously that’s where the fire brigade come in.”
Catherine added: “It’s concerning for (Stuart) and for us because we have spoken about it.
“But also for other residents who are not able-bodied.”
Four stations in Fife are set to lose an appliance in the restructure as the service bids to save £11m this year.
Christine Proudfoot, a member of the residents’ association at Raeburn Heights, questions where the additional appliances will come from if a fire breaks out.
Christine Proudfoot is concerned where the additional appliances will come from if a fire breaks out
“We have people who are house-bound, who wouldn’t be able to do anything,” she said.
“And we understand that with just one fire engine being located here in Glenrothes, they would need to wait for another one.”
Steven Reid, a Fire Brigade Union (FBU) representative and firefighter based in Glenrothes, shares the residents’ concerns.
He said: “If we were left with one appliance, our back-up is going to be about 15 to 20 minutes away – and that’s only if they’re available.
“That first sort of 15 to 20 minutes at an incident are usually the most crucial point.”
Steven Reid from the FBU said the 15 to 20 minutes at an incident were usually the most critical
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service says that appliances attending high-rise blazes across Scotland have always been sent from multiple stations.
The organisation said there would be no change to the number of appliances they will send to a high-rise incident.
The FBU argue that the cuts will also have a knock-on effect for surrounding towns and villages, leaving smaller stations without cover if a fire breaks out.
Perth, which experienced two major blazes since the beginning of the year, at New County Hotel and Shore Recycling centre, is another station impacted by the cuts.
David Evans, a union representative and firefighter based in the Fair City, believes the reduction will impact on their ability to attend fires promptly and safely.
“There’s going to be a big lag in getting appropriate resources to a fire, to a car crash, to a flooding incident,” he said.
“We can’t have anything other than a reduction is safety for the public and for firefighters responding.”
Temporary reduction
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service says the reduction is only temporary.
David Farries, director of service delivery, said: “Following a review, from September we are temporarily removing up to ten appliances from locations where we know there will be the least impact to services.
“These are second or third appliances, which can at times be unavailable for a number of reasons.”
He added that the changes would be monitored and reviewed.
