Staff crisis putting lives at risk, claims Fire Brigade Union

The Fire Brigade Union has warned lives are being put at risk at one of Scotland’s busiest brigades due to a staffing crisis.

The organisation claims that recruitment problems across Grampian have led to fire stations being out of action and engines left standing idle. And it said that cover across the region was thinning to crisis point.

Yesterday, regional secretary John Brown claimed homeowners would be alarmed to know it could take 25 minutes for an engine to reach properties in an emergency. He said: “People in Grampian are being put at risk and the firefighters themselves are being put at risk.”

Grampian Fire and Rescue Service bosses admitted that ten stations across the region were undermanned.

But GFRS assistant chief fire officer Peter Murray refuted the union’s safety concerns.

He said: “I wouldn’t say that lives are being put at risk, a fire service is not an exact science.”