Emergency services / Councillors to push for urgent improvements to rural fire stations
- Allison (Flea) Duncan and Catherine Hughson to meet fire bosses today (Monday)
- Bressay and Walls way down the improvement priority list
- Concern for the health of fire fighters as nine stations in Shetland have no water facilities
BRESSAY fire station is one of the fire brigade’s lowest priority improvement projects – despite being described as the “worst” one union representative had seen in 20 years.
Fire Brigade Union (FBU) regional secretary John McKenzie said Bressay was the worst he had witnessed in two decades.
But despite that, it ranks 323 of 355 in Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s (SFRS) priority ranking of stations to be improved.
Walls fire station – which McKenzie said was the second or third worst he had ever seen – is only slightly higher up, ranked 263.
It comes with SFRS officials due to meet Allison Duncan and Catherine Hughson – the chair and vice-chair of the Shetland Community Safety and Resilience board – on Monday to discuss the state of Shetland’s fire stations.
Duncan has frequently criticised stations in Walls, Bressay and Hillswick as being unfit for purpose, with no toilet or shower facilities at any of them.
He has threatened to report SFRS to the Health and Safety Executive if this is not rectified – and said he will do just that next week if Monday’s meeting does not leave him satisfied they are taking the matter seriously.
As many as nine fire stations in Shetland have no water facilities – with Bixter, Fair Isle, Fetlar, Unst, Whalsay and Yell also affected.
That has led to concerns about the health of firefighters who need to wash after attending fires, particularly if they come in to contact with asbestos.
Firefighters have been found to be 1.6 times more likely to die of cancer than the general public, according to a University of Central Lancashire study in 2023.
Duncan told Shetland News that Bressay, Hillswick and Walls stations “should be given the top priority” by SFRS.
And FBU regional chairman Gus Sproul said SFRS could not continue to ignore the “unacceptable” situation at Bressay, Walls and Hillswick fire stations.
“At some point someone in the service is going to have to grasp the nettle and make a decision on these stations,” he said.
“Firefighters there are being expected to turn up every week and sit around freezing, huddled around a computer monitor without a toilet in the middle of winter, with no heating and no insulation.”
SFRS is facing a serious financial shortfall, as well as an £800m capital backlog, and is currently conducting a review of the service – which could lead to station closures.
Sproul said he hoped SFRS officials were going to present plans for the future at Monday’s meeting in Shetland – and not just point to their lack of funds.
“Clearly there is some concerns around closures,” he said.
“But nobody needs a review to know that these stations in Shetland are clearly unacceptable.”
One suggestion on the table is to merge Walls and Bixter fire stations, with the likelihood that a new purpose-built station would be built for the crews to share.
That could be used as a “community resilience hub”, with SFRS putting in a business case to the Scottish Government for ring-fenced funding to be used for this.
It is understood Shetland Islands Council has been involved with the discussions about finding land for the fire station as well.
Sproul pointed to the Lerwick fire station – which is also used by the ambulance crew and community groups – as an example that could be followed in the West Side.
Asked if the crews in Walls and Bixter supported the amalgamation, Sproul said they were “proud of what they do” and “want to protect their local communities”.
“They don’t want to see their station shut, that’s a real concern,” he told Shetland News.
“I would like to think that when they’re sitting in a better facility they will not think that something has been taken away from the community.”
He said he felt some firefighters had been afraid of speaking about how dire the standard of their fire stations were, in case they were closed by SFRS.
“If you look at Walls, they have an excellent vehicle, really good PPE and good breathing apparatus sets. But the station, it’s really just a garage.
“I can’t see any improvements that could be made to the building without spending the kind of money that would be much better spent on making a modern, fit for purpose facility.
“The status quo has been exposed now, and the genie is out of the bottle.”
Duncan said he had been banging the drum to SFRS for the last two years about the dire state of Bressay, Hillswick and Walls stations.
He is hopeful that Monday’s meeting will lead to some progress, either in their improvements or in new stations.
“I’ve been bringing it up for the last two years and absolutely nothing has been done,” the South Mainland councillor said.
“Let’s see what the outcome of the meeting on Monday is, because I may not be done.”
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