The fire service must be fit to protect us from the impact of climate change

Most of us have been drilled over the years to being safe against fire in the home – from those adverts for chip pan fires that went up in the small hours to the fitting of smoke alarms in the house.

Better prevention and education has underpinned the long reshaping and cutting of the fire service but now the question is whether the emergency service be able to adequately protect us against possibly the biggest long-term threat to us all – climate change.

Serious concerns have been raised over the capability of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to deal with rising weather-related events such as flooding and wildfires – routinely linked to changes in the earth’s temperature – as fire stations remain without full crews, retained firefighters dwindle and gaps grow in the water rescue cover required to deal with the impact of heavier rainfall and erratic weather patterns that have destroyed properties and put people’s lives at risk, not least in the past month with Storm Babet that has left lives upturned and people fearful of a future of more of the same.

When it comes to emergency planning preparedness, it seems inconceivable the fire service has been left unprepared to fully deal with such events given routine cutting of staff and budgets, which will remain the same over the next four years. Of course, the dedication of crews across the country will ensure our safety as far as humanly possible but the alarm should be ringing over the changing nature of demands on the fire service.

Emergency workers wade through flood water in Brechin as Storm Babet batters the country. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has raised serious concerns about its ability to meet such extreme weather events given a surge in incidents - and a loss of staff and budget. PIC: Andrew Milligan/PA Wire

SFRS had to deal with 3,139 flooding incidents in 2022/23 – nearly double the number recorded over the previous 12 months. A 40 per cent increase in primary wildfires was recorded this year. Over a decade, the figure went up 477 per cent.

Risks change – and it is absolutely imperative that the response does too. To leave a service unable to do so is a gross disservice to us all.