"Nairn Fire Station is of a high standard of both training and response"

Gurnites will remember the few wee sparks between Oor Graham and Mike Henderson last month when he asked the LibDem member for comment on Fire Brigade training locally. The exchange took place at the River CC meeting last month. There was a sequel to all this at this month's meeting of the River CC when a letter was circulated by Mike Henderson (unable to be present) asking that the decision not to discuss the matter be reconsidered. The letter began:

"I tried to raise my concerns about the fire service at our last meeting. Unfortunately it was decided for various reasons that this was not a suitable item for a community council. I have to disagree most strongly with this viewpoint."

There was then some considerable debate about whether it would be competent to discuss the matter with some councillors thinking it was not a suitable topic for debate. Reference was made to standing orders. Liz was allowed to speak from the public benches and she thought it was relevant to community council affairs. She then made public an e-mail she had received from the fire service. Liz wanted to assure Mike Henderson and members of the community that despite concerns over press reports concerning fire service training in the Highlands all was well in Nairn. Here is the e-mail that Liz received:

Hello Liz

Following our conversation this morning I email with information on the current situation with training at Nairn Fire Station.

Nairn follow our 2 year Maintenance of Skills training structure, carried out on their weekly training evening. The Watch Manager in the station is being supported by ourselves in Inverness & Nairn District Office in ensuring this is up to date and fully recorded in the appropriate manner.

The recording of all training activities has been an area identified recently that stations are having difficulties with, and not actual carrying out of training itself.

They are up to date with other safety critical core training requirements i.e. breathing apparatus training, road traffic collision training, and have the basic elements of Incident Command & Safety training as carried out through their training planner.

Additional training under the ‘Safer Firefighter Programme’ is commencing as we speak which will include more advanced levels of Incident Command, Fire behaviour training, Road Traffic Collision training, and also include requirements for medical and fitness standards.

I wish to give your community the reassurance that Nairn Fire Station is of a high standard of both training and response, and the management and crew are dedicated to improving quantity of training through our ‘Safer Firefighter Programme’.

Recent recruitment success has improved the staffing levels on station, however this is an area that is always on our agenda as identifying suitable people within the community has often proven difficult.

I offer my attendance at a future Community Council meeting if you would prefer face to face information exchange. We are going through major reform in our Service and if you feel it would be more beneficial to your local community then please contact me anytime.

Regards

Graham Clark
Station Manager
Operations C Inverness & Nairn
Highlands & Islands Fire & Rescue Service