Fire shake up: 3000 back petition to protect Fife station appliance and specialist team
Almost 3000 people have signed a petition to block a proposal that could see a fire appliance removed from a Fife station , along with a rope rescue unit - one of only four in the country.
The options being considered by the Scottish Fire & Rescue Service (SFRS) have sparked a backlash in Lochgelly with the local community council’s petition being raised in the Scottish Parliament by two MSPs.
The council argues any removals from the town’s station “poses a significant risk to public safety” and branded the proposal “incomprehensible and deeply irresponsible” given the rise in the number of houses being built in the area.
It isn’t the first time appliances have been removed from Fife stations. In 2023, the SFRS faced a huge public outcry as it withdrew appliances from Methil, Glenrothes and Dunfermline. A height appliance was also pulled out of Kirkcaldy station as the service faced an £11m budget cut from the Scottish Government.
Just two years on and the service is looking at changes to a number of stations, As well as Lochgelly, it is considering replacing the Dunfermline Combined Aerial Rescue Pump (CARP) with a dedicated High Reach Appliance (HRA); and reducing both Lochgelly and Methil from two pump Water Tenders to one.
Lochgelly Community Council argues cuts to the town’s station - which has a rollcall of 45 firefighters - “will increase emergency response times, reduce fire cover across the area, and place unnecessary strain on already-stretched resources.”
Concerns also centred on the potential loss of the rope rescue unit which is specially trained to carry out complex and dangerous rescues.
Jane Schulz, chair, said: “This proposal flies in the face of the evidence and the stated awareness by fire leadership of new risks emerging in our area. Rather than cutting, now is the time to invest – to ensure Lochgelly Fire Station has the personnel, equipment, and specialist units required to meet these growing challenges.
“We need a fire service that is prepared, robust, and capable of safeguarding our expanding and increasingly complex community.” The issue was raised in the debating chamber at Holyrood last week, with Alex Rowley urging Siobhian Brown ,Minister for Victims and Community Safety, to come to the town and hear local concerns. Annabelle Ewing (SNP) also spoke ion the issue.
Mr Rowley, Mid Scotland and Fife (Labour), said: “Over 2700 people have signed the petition such is the fear. The community council’s clear message is, rather than cut, now is time to invest to ensure Lochgelly has the personnel, equipment and specialist units required to meet growing challenges in this current environment. To remove them will increase risk.”
Ms Brown said it was not appropriate to comment while the consultation process was underway, and she stressed: “This is not a cuts exercise. It is about SFRS carefully examining risks in community and configuring its resources in the best way possible to deal with them.
“It is not appropriate to comment on individual options. SFRS board and chief officers are best placed to take decisions on how best its resources are deployed. It would in inappropriate for a Minister to direct it on how it should deploy those resources.”
The SFRS confirmed it was in the middle of a review of its operations, and non decisions would be taken without public consultation.
Lee Turnock, area commander and local senior officer for Clackmannanshire, Fife and Stirling said: "We are currently in the midst of a service delivery review, which aims to ensure that our resources – our staff, stations and appliances – are matched to operational risk and demand across Scotland.
"We have now concluded an options appraisal and development process and a number of change options have been recommended to progress to public consultation in the summer. This remains subject to final approval by the SFRS Board.
"Any permanent changes to our station footprint or how we deliver our services will only come after we have sought views from the public and a final decision has been made by the SFRS.”