A string of serious errors in dispatching fire crews in the Highlands has emerged a month after the controversial shutdown of the Inverness control room.
The north team of dedicated emergency call handlers was moved to Dundee in early December amid fears that the loss of local knowledge would spell disaster for the service.
And now, just 30 days later, a retired senior fire officer has revealed a litany of basic errors that he described as “potentially life-threatening mobilisation disasters”.
Last night, one politician called for an urgent government review of the unpopular move to centralise control rooms from Aberdeen and Inverness to Dundee.
Scotland’s most senior fire officer is due to meet MSP Tavish Scott next week, as the head of Highland Council and her colleagues mobilise to reverse the changes.
There have also been claims that basic maintenance of fire vehicles halted more than a year ago in the Western and Northern Isles.
Former Highlands and Islands area manager chief Alec Kidd was initially alerted to a dozen instances of alleged fire control errors.
They included confusion between Thurso and a Dundee street featuring the name of “Thurso,” a lack of knowledge that Dingwall has its own firefighters and an island crew on Shetland being called to an incident when there were five closer fire stations.
Mr Kidd, 58, who retired in 2008 after 32 years in the fire service, said: “There is a severe risk to life. Astounding mistakes were made. You’ve probably got an inherent 10-minute delay going into every incident where the station tell the control room they’ve turned out the wrong station, which is crazy. Geographical mistakes are being made.”
Just two of the 19 Inverness control room staff were to move to Dundee, with four to be redeployed and 13 opted for redundancy or early retirement. Mr Kidd said the chances of one of those being on shift was “slim.”
He added: “Maintenance on appliances seemingly hasn’t been done on the Western Isles or Orkney and Shetland for over a year, so vehicles are running about without being properly maintained by mechanics, allegedly.”
A spokesman for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service said: “We inherited an Inverness control room that was no longer fit for purpose. We’re systematically identifying and addressing any issues arising and rectifying these accordingly.
“There are robust failsafe measures in place to make certain that resilience and full operational capability is maintained at all times.”
He added that chief fire officer Alasdair Hay would meet Shetland MSP Mr Scott on Tuesday and use the opportunity to discuss the concerns in detail.
The service did not comment on the maintenance claim.
Mr Scott said: “SNP ministers were warned by senior operational fire officers of exactly these dangers over control room failures and ignored those warnings.
“There’s an overwhelming case now for a full parliamentary inquiry into what’s happening and a role for Audit Scotland to scrutinise the significant concerns over maintenance budgets.”
Highlands and Islands Conservative MSP Ed Mountain said: “I believe closing the centre was a life-threatening mistake.”
Highland Council leader Margaret Davidson has invited Community Safety Minister Annabelle Ewing to visit the region as a matter of urgency.
She said: “Local knowledge was underestimated and solutions we offered were dismissed without sufficient consideration. We now face the same happening with the Police Scotland control room.”
A spokeswoman for the Scottish Government said: “While decisions on how to allocate resources is a matter for the fire service board, the multimillion-pound investment to replace old legacy systems will provide a greatly improved control infrastructure.
“These changes will enhance the service, ensuring calls are handled more efficiently.
“Local knowledge and expertise does not depend on the location of a building but on the professional experience of the staff supported by sophisticated systems and technology and the knowledge of the locally-based crews.”
