A FIRE crew had to rush more than 100 miles to a fire after nearby equipment broke down.
It’s feared lives could have been put at risk during the blaze in Whithorn, Wigtonshire, which needed to be tackled by a high reach appliance.
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It sparked fears lives could have been put at riskCredit: Supplied
A replacement crew was sent from 100 miles away in Maryhill, GlasgowCredit: The Sun
But when the closest one – 60 miles away in Dumfries – broke down at the scene and couldn’t be used, one from the Maryhill area of Glasgow had to be summoned.
The backup crew had to travel 98 miles to the incident, which took them over two-and-a-half hours. They were called out 5.42am and arrived on the scene at 8.19am.
Luckily nobody was hurt in the blaze on January 1 which started on the town’s George Street around 11.45pm.
It was claimed the incident shows how fragile Scotland’s fire and rescue service is.
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Scottish Conservative shadow community safety minister Sharon Dowey MSP said: “This incident exposes how the SNP have stripped Scotland’s fire service to the bone.
“With an appliance from Glasgow out of action 100 miles away, the consequences could have been devastating.
“It is time for the SNP to properly fund our fire service and stop putting public safety at risk.”
Her Scottish Labour counterpart Katy Clark added: “This astonishing case lays bare the consequences of the SNP’s dangerous cuts to fire services.
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“Every single second counts in a fire and long waits for help can be catastrophic.
“It is shocking that it took multiple hours and a 100 mile trip for a high reach vehicle to get to this fire.”
The nearest high rise appliance to the Whithorn incident was based in Kilmarnock, which was unavailable to be sent.
After the Maryhill crew were deployed, the nearest ones were based in Castlemilk in the city’s East End, Johnstone in Renfrewshire and Coatbridge, Lanarkshire.
The last round of cutbacks saw high reach appliances taken away from stations in Clydebank, Ayr, Clydesmill and Motherwell.
Last month, a huge fire at the Revolver Hotel in Glasgow’s Merchant City required two of the high reach vehicles to tackle the blaze which had spread to the roof.
“With an appliance from Glasgow out of action 100 miles away, the consequences could have been devastating.”
Sharon Dowey MSP
Area Commander Derek Heaton, the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s local senior officer for Dumfries and Galloway said: “We were alerted at 11.46pm on Thursday, 1 January, to reports of a dwelling fire at George Street, Whithorn.
“We mobilised four appliances to the scene, with the first fire appliance arriving as of 11.56pm.
“There were no casualties, and crews left the scene at around 4pm on Friday, 2 January.”
He added: “A height appliance originally mobilised from Dumfries Community Fire Station experienced a mechanical issue at the scene and had to be withdrawn.
“Our highly trained Operations Control staff mobilised a separate high reach appliance from Maryhill Community Fire Station, which arrived at the scene as of 8.19am on Friday, 2 January.
“It’s important to recognise that our height appliances are strategically located national resources which are deployed to locations across the country as and when required.
“Our specially trained operations control staff continually monitor real time data to ensure we attend every emergency with the right resources at the right time.”
It comes as we revealed how the Coatbridge high rise appliance had to be sent to a fire 50 miles away in Ayr to backup a Kilmarnock crew, just months after Ayr lost their high reach vehicle.
In September 2023, At last September’s inferno at the Station Hotel, Ayr, a high-reach engine was summoned from Glasgow.
A high reach fire appliance broke down at the scene in DumfriesCredit: Supplied