Kirkcaldy fire station cuts branded ‘absolutely unacceptable’ and 'bizarre'

It is one of a number of cuts proposed to stations across Fife as the emergency service tries to find savings of £11m - and one that is sparking particular concern at a time when the number of deliberate fires has shown a worrying increase.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service wants to scrap the ageing appliance in Kirkcaldy, and provide cover from Dunfermline - which will get a more modern appliance redeployed from a station in Edinburgh -, but that will see response times rise from just two minutes to 24 minutes. Councillors have said that is simply not acceptable.

At Tuesday’s area committee, they condemned the move which the SFRS said were informed by a “deep-dive data” research. Councillor Alistair Cameron (Kirkcaldy Central, Labour) hit out: “I don’t care what data you come up - this is about people’s lives. The appliance must, and should be, in Kirkcaldy.”

He described the proposal as “bizarre” and was one of several councillors who highlighted the number of high rise buildings across the town, including Victoria Hospital - scene of a devastating fatal blaze in the nurses home in 1981.

Councillor Ian Cameron, convener, branded the proposal “absolutely unacceptable” and one that makes no sense.” Councillor Rod Kavanagh (Kirkcaldy East, SNP), called for the cuts to be cancelled altogether, arguing: “We have, and we need, to maintain this level of cover.”

Fife Council’s cabinet committee has already asked to see the data which led to the proposal to temporarily remove second or third appliances from several station, including Glenrothes and Leven - that could be for up to one year - and the political pressure will continue when fire chiefs face councillors at a meeting at Fife House on Thursday.

They are attending the people and communities scrutiny committee to present their annual report, but the debate will be dominated by the fall-out from the announcement of cuts to the region’s service. They will also be met by a demonstration of firefighters outside Fife House. Crews from Glenrothes will be at the entrance to share their concerns at the impact of an appliance being removed from their station.

The cuts have already been branded “outrageous” by David Ross, the leader of Fife Council who warned: “Budget cuts cannot be made at the expense of the safety of people and buildings.”

He hit out last week, stating: "The proposals are seriously concerning and we are asking the Scottish Fire and Rescue service to withdraw these plans immediately in the interests of public safety. Budget cuts cannot be made at the expense of the safety of people and buildings. We are all too aware of the devastating impacts that fires can have on the lives and businesses of Fifers, having recently suffered the consequences of a number of serious fires across the Kingdom.

"The proposed withdrawal of the height appliance in Kirkcaldy is particularly concerning for the local hospital and Ravenscraig flats. We all rely heavily on the vital services the fire service provides - not just fighting fires - but responding to all the emergencies that they deal with every day.

"We are seeking an urgent meeting with the Scottish Fire and Rescue service, urging them to listen to the concerns we're raising today and take immediate action to withdraw these proposals.”

The fire service has said public safety remains its top priority, and the proposals to cut appliances from ten stations across Scotland would have the least impact.

David Farries, director of service delivery, said: “These are second or third appliances, which 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. We will always ensure the resources we have and our people are best placed to protect communities.”

Mr Farries added: “We have identified ten stations where we can temporarily remove an appliance with the least impact. We are also reducing our fleet of vehicles that can operate at height, on a phased basis, taking ageing vehicles off the run and redeploying or introducing a series of modern, specialist vehicles dedicated specifically to dealing with such incidents”