More efforts must be made to recruit part-time firefighters on remote parts of Orkney, councillors said yesterday, despite hearing that the recruitment process has been speeded up.
Members of the police and fire sub-committee were told that equipment for assessing fitness levels of potential candidates no longer has to be brought from the mainland.
And the number of psychometric tests required has been cut by half, from four to two.
The service’s head of prevention and protection for the Highlands and islands, John MacDonald said the changes would cut the waiting time.
But he acknowledged that there were issues with recruiting in some areas.
Eday, North Ronaldsay and Papa Westray all have vacancies although there are two candidates for Eday.
Councillor Rob Crichton said he felt that people did not realise that they would not be on call “24/7”.
He said that this belief could be putting some people off applying.
Mr Macdonald said: “We do no expect them to be on call 24 hours a day. They would sign up to a contract depending on the availability they can give.
“It would be incumbent on the watch manager to manage availability to ensure 24 hour cover.”
Committee chairman, Councillor Andrew Drever said that people should be aware of the potential loss to their community if numbers fell below the required level.
He added: “It is up to communities to come forward and make themselves sustainable.”