HELENSBURGH fire station is part of a pilot project to strengthen Scotland’s defences against wildfires as the global climate crisis continues to unfold.
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) plans to more than double the number of stations with firefighters specially trained and equipped to tackle blazes in forests, moors, fields and bogs, and a pilot project on advanced wildfire expertise is already under way locally.
The Burgh facility in South King Street is one of 10 ‘tier 3’ stations nationwide, also including Ullapool and Dunblane, where new specialist vehicles, equipment, PPE and training are being implemented as part of the service’s National Wildfire Strategy.
Twenty-five stations across the country will eventually be trained and equipped in a new way to deal with a wildfire, as fire chiefs get to grips with the impact of climate change in this part of the world.
This week a report from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change detailed the stark reality of the environmental challenges facing humanity, with extreme weather likely to become more common across the globe.
Area commander Bruce Farquharson is the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s wildfire lead.
READ MORE: Helensburgh sewage works 'worst in Scotland' for overspills
He said: “We are in the process of developing a national wildfire strategy to be delivered over three years.
“We are considering pilot projects to test an enhanced SFRS response to wildfires in Scotland.
“We are committed to ensuring that our staff are able to respond to these challenging incident types using the latest techniques and equipment, alongside our partners in rural areas.”
Mr Farquharson told the Advertiser’s sister paper, The Herald: “In other parts of the world, they see fires started by weather.
“We have never seen that in Scotland yet. But climate change is doing all sorts of funny things, so the fact we have not seen it yet does not mean we won’t see it at some point.”
Reports of grassland, woodland and crop fires in Argyll and Bute, West Dunbartonshire and East Dunbartonshire at the height of summer 2020 were almost double the number for the same period in 2019, according to the SFRS.
READ MORE: 'It's causing fear': concern grow wildfire risk on hills above village
Wildfire warnings have already been issued for parts of Helensburgh and Lomond this year, with the most recent “very high risk” warning issued in April.
Meanwhile the Advertiser reported in May that fire crews were called out eight times in the space of a month to a series of hill fires on land above Rhu.
The fire service says that the aim of the current pilot projects is to see “a more efficient and streamlined approach to dealing with these types of incidents”.
A document outlining the wildfire strategy said: “Upon completion, we anticipate that the impact of wildfires in Scotland will reduce.
“SFRS aims to not only modernise its wildfire response, but also to ensure that Scotland has a world-class wildfire prevention and mitigation culture that ensures that the natural resources we enjoy in Scotland are resilient to the negative impact that climate change might bring, and that the devastating impact of wildfire on Scotland’s rural communities is reduced.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here