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Fife fire service cuts: Dagenham blaze is ‘wake-up call’ one year on

The loss of six fire appliances in Fife, Dundee and Perth was said to be a 12-month temporary withdrawal.

Kitty's nightclub fire
The fire service tackles a blaze at Kitty's nightclub in Kirkcaldy amid cuts to Fife and Tayside appliances. Image: Maggie Millar.

It’s a year since six appliances were stripped from Fife and Tayside fire stations amid an £11 million budget cut.

And while the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service described the move as a 12-month temporary withdrawal, there is no sign of their return.

The Scottish Fire Brigade Union (FBU) is now warning last month’s London tower block blaze should serve as a “wake-up call” for bosses.

Scottish FBU regional chair Gus Sproul said: “The fire in the seven-storey block in Dagenham went up in minutes.

“I don’t know if we have the ability to respond to that kind of thing now, especially if there are two serious incidents in the central belt.

“That should be a big wake-up call.”

No indication Fife and Tayside fire appliances will return

In Fife, second appliances were removed from Methil and Glenrothes.

And Dunfermline fire station lost its third appliance.

Meanwhile, the height appliance at Kirkcaldy was withdrawn despite a huge campaign to keep it.

A protest against Fife and Tayside fire service cuts last year
A protest against Fife and Tayside fire service cuts last year. Image: Kim Cessford / DC Thomson

And Perth and Dundee each lost an appliance.

Mr Sproul said: “They claimed it was temporary.

“I don’t know what you would call that if you don’t want to call it a lie.

“Not one of those appliances has come back on the run. And there is no indication that any of them will.

“The temporary nature has proven not to be true.”

Kitty’s fire among several high-profile Fife incidents after cuts

Mr Sproul added: “In Fife, we had a number of pretty high-profile incidents after we lost those pumps,”

“The height appliance was removed at the same time as the Kitty’s fire in Kirkcaldy.

“We also had a fire in St Andrews that took crews half an hour to get to and two houses were destroyed.

“Then Storm Babet hit.”

He said after the storm Glenrothes firefighters worked from 5pm until 2pm the following afternoon because there was no-one to relieve them.

“The challenges facing the fire service are massive at the moment,” he said.

Final decision after public consultation

The chief fire officer is due to outline the challenges facing the service to MSPs on Wednesday (September 4).

And next year’s service budget is not yet known.

However, the fire service says it continues to monitor the impact of the temporary withdrawals.

Deputy Chief Officer Stuart Stevens said: “The safety of communities and firefighters is always our priority.

“No final decision will be made on the status of these appliances until we conclude a future public consultation exercise.

“This process commenced this year with the launch our ‘Shaping Our Future Service: Your Say’ survey.

“The results of the survey, which are currently being reviewed, will shape options for change.”

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