Fire crews 'not equipped for national crisis'

Published on Saturday 13 June 2009 20:03

LIVES and property will be put at extra risk in the event of a national disaster because Scotland's fire brigades are unable to work together, it was claimed last night.

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said it feared units from different parts of the country would struggle to work together on a major incident because they use incompatible equipment and training.

The FBU said local fire and rescue leaders had failed to co-ordinate basic kit, including breathing apparatus and engine pumps, as well as procedures and policies.

The union fears slow movement towards national standards could "compromise" joint efforts to handle catastrophes such as a terror attack, a blaze at the Grangemouth petrochemicals plant or an accident at a nuclear power station.

Chief officers yesterday hit back at the criticism, insisting they were making "significant progress" towards better compatibility between brigades.

But Ken Ross, the Scottish secretary of the FBU, said: "If there was a major incident we would have to have compatible procedures and equipment to deal with it effectively, collectively and safely. There is a real danger that the command and control – and the safety of both firefighters and those who seek to assist – could be compromised by the growing fragmentation of policy and procedures across Scotland, and the lack of national standards."

Scotland on Sunday understands that several key civil servants and politicians of both main Scottish parties sympathise with the FBU on the issue. Richard Baker, Labour's justice spokesman in the Scottish Parliament, last night described the union's concerns as "valid".

Rank-and-file firefighters yesterday said they took pride in their ability to make use of whatever kit was available. However, a firefighter from Strathclyde, to take one example, would not know how to operate breathing apparatus from Lothian and Borders. Union chiefs stress inconsistency in promotions policy could be just as serious. One official explained: "It could be a disaster. How do I know that a guy from Tayside has the same skills as a guy from Fife?"

David Wynne, the chief fire officer of Dumfries and Galloway and the chair of the Chief Fire Officers Association in Scotland, yesterday insisted compatibility was improving. "There has been significant progress in recent years, although there is, of course, always room for improvement."

However, he added that brigades had always decided on their own breathing apparatus. "If we were starting from a blank sheet we would have a single procurement arrangement. But we are not starting from a blank sheet."

Cosla, the body that represents Scottish local authorities, defended brigades. A spokesman said: "While there has been a historical issue with compatibility that is what it is: historical. Great strides have been made in recent years. In terms of all resilience equipment as far as I am aware this is all now procured to the same specification."

The FBU wants to see a single national body set up to ensure standards and back joint procurement. The last Labour-Liberal Democrat administration abolished the decades-old body that was designed to do exactly that: Scottish Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council (SCFBAC). It did so after relatively uncontroversial new laws that devolved powers to fire chiefs and their ruling boards.

Wynne yesterday said he felt the old SCFBAC was "bureaucratic and slow". The Scottish Government, Scotland on Sunday understands, has no appetite to re-create it. But there may be moves to beef up a ministerial advisory group chaired by Fergus Ewing, the community safety minister. It meets on Tuesday and a new fire framework will be top of the agenda. It has been on the drawing board for 18 months.

Ewing is understood to have no desire to "micro-manage" the fire service from Holyrood. His spokesman said: "Clearly the Scottish Government retains a key strategic role and we value the close contacts forged with all key stakeholders.

"In terms of a large-scale incident, the eight services do attend 'cross-boundary' incidents – most notably, the factory explosion in Maryhill. Crews attending an incident in another service area which requires breathing apparatus would wear the equipment of their own service – though core principles of responding to such a scenario remain constant across the eight services and in line with national standards."