THE first chief officer of the new single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is to be announced today.
There are thought to be five candidates in the running for the £165,000 a year post, including Susan Johnson, the chief executive of County Durham & Darlington Fire & Rescue Service and David Dalziel, chief fire officer at Grampian Fire & Rescue Service.
Chief fire officer of Tayside Alasdair Hay, Lewis Ramsay, assistant fire chief at Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, and Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service assistant chief officer Alex Clark are also in the frame.
The new chief officer will be responsible for bringing together the eight services into a single service.
Brian Sweeney, chief officer of Strathclyde Fire and Rescue, had been tipped to be the single fire and rescue service's first leader but faced calls for his resignation earlier this year after a damning report into the conduct of his officers during the tragic death of Alison Hune in July 2008.
Steven Torrie, chief inspector of Scotland's fire and rescue authorities, listed a catalogue of errors by his officers in the failed attempt to save the lawyer.
Mrs Hume, 44, died from a heart attack brought on by hypothermia, after seven hours down the shaft in Galston, North Ayrshire, while Mr Sweeney's officers debated whether to go in.
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