A remote Highland fire station which has been struggling to recruit for more than two years has had 12 volunteers sign up in just one night.
It followed a community consultation evening last week in Lochinver looking into ways to attract new firefighters.
In April 2014, the dwindling numbers of fully trained firefighters led to the Lochinver fire engine becoming unavailable to respond to incidents.
Various recruitment initiatives over this time have had limited success.
But, last week, the consultation evening discussed ways of making firefighter training more manageable – including looking at flexible response times and the impact of seasonal work on availability for training for retained volunteers.
The event saw 25 people turn out to hear from senior fire service managers – and 12 Lochinver residents ended up expressing an interest in signing up.
Station manager Mark Loynd said: “We highlighted the entrance requirements, the benefits of firefighter training to both the individual and their employer, the current challenges to recruitment and the benefits to the Lochinver community of having local personnel who can actively work to prevent emergencies and effectively respond to them when required.”
Other issues discussed at the evening included support for applicants to reach fitness standards, mobile communication blackspots in the area and driving requirements.
Mr Loynd added: “To have 12 members of the Lochinver community come forward and express an interest in becoming retained firefighters exceeded all expectations and creates the potential for a fully crewed Lochinver Community Fire Station within the next year.
“A smaller meeting will now be arranged between the local SFRS Station Manager and the potential firefighters to discuss the recruitment process and their individual commitment in more detail.
“We would like to express our thanks to the Lochinver community and its supporters for achieving this initial success.”