Young mothers have been asked to help solve a firefighter staffing crisis in the Highlands.
The fire service, a union boss and a north politician have all suggested that attracting more women to the job could help boost availability at stations.
Fire service senior officer Scott Hay revealed this week that at peak times during the working day, between 10 and 15 fire engines across the region were “routinely” unavailable for service because of a lack of staff.
The majority of Highland stations are manned by retained firefighters, with many of them working day jobs which prevent them from responding to every emergency.
Highlands and Islands MSP Douglas Ross said that young mums should be targeted during recruitment to solve the shortage of staff at peak times.
He said: “The biggest pressure on the system is during the day and there are women who are not working but are looking after children.
“They take their children to school in the morning and then they are on call during the day.
“I think there are a lot of young mums out there capable of doing the job and I would encourage them to get involved.
“It’s something that should be given serious consideration.”
His call was backed by Stephen Thomson, Scottish regional secretary of the Fire Brigades Union who said that the retained system was outdated with more people working further away from their home than when the scheme was introduced.
He said there was “no single answer” to solving the problem – but welcomed the suggestion of attracting more female firefighters.
Union boss Mr Thomson said: “The FBU has been a champion of getting a gender balance and equality in general in the service.
“It’s been a predominantly white male service and that needs to change and we’ve been championing that for some time.
“I would support what the MSP has said and I’m sure there are young mums out there who could prove an extremely valuable addition to the service.”
Senior officer Mr Hay said that the service is keen to recruit people from all walks of life, with a new system recently introduced to make it easier for people to join.
He said: “It is an incredible role and we want to hear from anyone who is interested in taking it on.
“One of our stations is made-up almost entirely of female crew members so we couldn’t be clearer this is something we encourage women to pursue.
“Sometimes people think that family or work commitments will be a barrier but we want them to get in touch.
“Even if someone is only available for part of the time – for example during school hours – they may still be able to take on this incredible role.”
