The Highland fire chief has attempted to reassure the public that a shake-up in shift patterns will not endanger lives.
John MacDonald was speaking to councillors in the wake of fierce criticism of “centralisation” of the service and new shift arrangements.
Former firefighter Fraser Parr, now an Inverness councillor, last week condemned switching the fire control room from Inverness to Dundee and a national policy to change from a four-shift system to a five-shift system.
Fellow city councillor Carolyn Caddick yesterday revisited the issues, warning that an ongoing review of the service would “assume a lower level of manning as a base level.”
Mr MacDonald yesterday insisted that the “five-watch duty system” being introduced at all Scottish full-time fire stations was “suitable” for Inverness but “needs to be looked at differently” because each station has an individual profile in terms of optimum crewing level based on the type and number of appliances at any specific location.
He also told members of the local scrutiny committee that he would not put firefighter safety at risk by relaxing training requirements for new recruits in rural areas.
Answering concerns that the retained firefighter training course was too strict and deterring people from joining, he told councillors safety would not be compromised.
Speaking later, Mr MacDonald said: “There cannot and there will not be a change to the content of the initial training course as it has been designed to provide all firefighters with the necessary skills and knowledge to operate safely on the incident ground.
“Firefighting is an inherently dangerous activity and fire does not discriminate based on location.
“It’s therefore essential that every firefighter receives the same level of training. However there is certainly scope to amend the delivery model.”
