Loch Ness community appeals for new volunteer firefighter recruits to boost Foyers Community Fire Station at Gorthleck and avoid risk of ‘life or death’ delays in emergency response times
A Loch Ness-side community is launching an urgent bid to recruit more volunteer firefighters to ease a “life or death” threat to emergency response times.
Foyers Community Fire Station at Gorthleck helps protect a large swathe of the south Loch Ness area with a current crew of seven dedicated members.
While only four are required under Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) guidelines to safely operate the station’s fire truck, on-call fire crew numbers can inevitably be hit by work, holidays and other commitments.
In worst case scenario, people throughout Stratherrick and Foyers could, without the local crew, face up to a 40-minute delay in receiving a first response to 999 emergencies.
Full-time crews from Fort Augustus or Inverness must also navigate slower rural, often single-track roads before reaching different parts of the relatively thinly-dispersed rural population.
With time of the essence in many residential fire or road accident scenarios, there are concerns that a lack of numbers could lead to tragedy.
In an effort to remedy the situation, the station’s watch commander David Main and crew commander Stewart MacPherson will be holding an open evening from 4-8 pm on Friday (May 23) at the Wildside Centre at Whitebridge.
They have asked anyone interested in joining them to come along for a chat and find out more about the role.
Area commander Michael Humphreys, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s local senior officer for the Highland area, said: “Our on-call firefighters are exceptional individuals who step up to protect their communities when needed most.
“The role allows people to give back to their community while earning a second income.
“But it is also a big commitment, and you must be sure that you can commit the time needed before you apply.
“We continue to recruit all year round, and we need people within communities like Foyers and the surrounding area, to step forward and consider a career with us and help to protect their communities.”
The SFRS stress that operations control staff will always strive to mobilise the closest and most appropriate fire appliance to an incident to ensure every emergency is attended to.
The service is looking to recruit on-call firefighters in areas all across the Highlands and the rest of Scotland, with more information available at: On call firefighter | Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
A spokesman for the local station said: “Currently, we have only seven members and we require a minimum of four crew to be able to mobilise.
“Our fire appliance is commonly in the fire station with insufficient personnel to crew it due to people being either out of the area or having work commitments, resulting in a fire appliance coming from either Inverness or Fort Augustus - if they have a crew available.
“This situation results in up to a 40-minute delay in the arrival of a fire appliance to an incident in our area.
“If we had more people in the local area who were willing to be on-call for some of the time, in particular during weekdays, our ability to respond to emergencies in our area would be greatly improved.”
Those interested are asked to attend the open day or contact watch commander David Main at email david.main3@firescotland.gov.uk, or crew commander Stewart MacPherson at stewart.macpherson@firescotland.gov.uk.
