Firefighter crisis looming in Sutherland
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North west Sutherland councillor Hugh Morrison is urging fire service chiefs to “think out of the box” in order to combat the dwindling number of firefighters in the county.
Newly released figures show that nine out of 11 fires stations in Sutherland have lost crew members in the last few months with two stations – Lochinver and Tongue unable to operate because crew numbers are below the operational threshold of four.
Fire chiefs are holding open evenings in Tongue on Monday, September 13, and Bettyhill on Thursday, September 16, in the hope of recruiting firefighters.
Speaking at a meeting of Sutherland County Committee, Cllr Morrison said: “In nine of the 11 stations the recruitment is down from the last report, which is worrying.
“I am not sure what is happening in Lochinver. They were up to nine crew members there at one stage so to be back down to three is bitterly disappointing.
“I do not know what we can do to change this, although I do know what the problem is - the bar is set too high nationally.”
Cllr Morrison, a former firefighter, suggested that the Tongue and Bettyhill units could be merged as the communities were so close.
He also floated the idea of lowering the minimum age for firefighters from 18 to 16, which he said might help retain young people in remote and rural communities.
“We just have to think out of the box. It is only going to get worse,” he said.
Jason Gardiner, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Sutherland district manager, said the minimum age applied across the UK and was supported by the fire union.
He said Covid had been a “massive factor” in the loss of firefighters but a lot of work was going into recruitment.
Cllr Linda Munro said she was very pleased to hear about the recruitment events.
