Remote communities lose fire service units

Highland Correspondent

Saturday 2 March 2013

A fire board has voted to disband units in two remote communities, despite a last ditch plea for a stay of execution.

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David Ross Highland Correspondent

Independent local councillor Eddie Hunter appealed to the Highlands and Islands Fire Board to give the communities on the island of Eigg and the Knoydart Peninsula six months to prove they could sustain a fire service presence in their midst.

Both currently have "community response units" which have for some time had to rely on the fire crew from Mallaig to tackle any house fires. But both communities believe there is an important local role for them, which would at least prevent other members of the public intervening.However, in his report to the board, Chief Fire Officer Stewart Edgar said that £210,000 would have to be invested in each of them if they were to continue and that revenue costs for the previous five years were around £10,000 in bothHe said Knoydart had only three emergency calls in the previous five years and Eigg one, and that Knoydart currently had only three firefighters and Eigg four. As a result he said they should be deemed unsustainable.These figures and others that Mr Edgar used were challenged by local people. Mr Hunter said: "Judging by the deluge of responses from both Knoydart and Eigg, all within the space of the last three days, it is obvious they were unaware their community response units were under immediate threat of closure."He asked that the board defer a decision for a maximum period of six months, in order for the Knoydart and Eigg communities to "energise" themselves. "I beg, I implore all of you to give the people of Eigg and Knoydart a final last chance to come to their own rescue," he said.However, the board members, in their last meeting before becoming part of a Scotland-wide service voted 13 to eight, to disband the units.

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Remote communities lose fire service units

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