Black Isle van blaze drama prompts fresh Scottish Fire and Rescue Service recruitment call
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A VAN blaze which left two terrified travellers stranded in a Black Isle town triggered an instant response from big-hearted locals but also sparked concerns about fire cover recruitment in the area.
When the campervan they had just parked near the beach close to Cromarty's Royal Hotel suddenly burst into flames on Friday evening, the pair's first instinct was to first get their two dogs to safety, alert the emergency services and deploy their extinguisher and fire blanket.
By the time the first on-call response from Fortrose arrived half an hour later, the fire had taken hold and largely destroyed the vehicle. A second appliance from Inverness arrived at 7.50pm.
Happily, no one was hurt in the incident.
But a number of people locally questioned whether it would be possible to have a local response from within Cromarty for such incidents.
A GoFundMe page set up by Ellie O'Brien for Helena Harvey, one of the friends left stranded, was quick to praise the response of firefighters and paramedics – and supporters who chipped in £700 to help them with emergency accommodation and a rental car to get home while insurance matters were being dealt with.
The page stated: "999 was obviously called but due to where we were this took some time to get to us. The van burnt for almost an hour. The fire brigade were amazing as were the paramedics who checked us out for smoke inhalation and shock. They believe it was just a freak accident as the engine was off, keys out and no warning signs or suggestion of what caused this."
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Michael Humphreys, the local senior officer for Highland within the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), said: "The safety of our staff and the communities we serve is always a clear priority.
"As a national service we attend every emergency incident as we have the capacity and flexibility to operate as a network by strategically mobilising our operational assets and firefighters wherever they may be required."
He added: "We recognise that there are challenges in the recruitment and retention of on-call firefighters. They play a vital role, providing a professional emergency fire and rescue service to their local communities 24/7.
"We therefore encourage people within our Highland communities to consider applying. We work with every candidate to support them through their journey to becoming a competent firefighter."
Cromarty is a volunteer on-call station. Firefighters on the volunteer duty system operate on a “call out” basis and are predominantly based in some of the more remote villages and islands within Scotland.
The SFRS volunteer duty system includes nine community response units (CRUs) across the Highlands who are trained to deal with heath and forestry fires and in some cases, road traffic collisions and community fire safety activities, such as home fire safety visits.
The SFRS says it is continually looking to recruit on-call firefighters in areas across Scotland. Visit its website for more information under Scottish Fire & Rescue Service: On Call.
Black Isle councillor Morven-May MacCallum said that while no one had raised the issue with her, she is aware of recruitment challenges.
