Scottish Borders Council

Agenda item

Fire & Rescue

Performance Report (copy attached)

Update on Service Matters

 

LSO Stephen Gourlay

Minutes:

4.1       There had been circulated copies of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Services (SFRS) Local Plan Performance Report.  Local Senior Officer (LSO) Gourlay began the report by explaining that the SFRS Chief Officer was due to retire at the end of March 2019.  Interviews would be taking place shortly for his replacement. Positive areas of progress within the Transformation programme included the introduction of new Rapid Response Units in the form of 7 ton trucks with ultra high pressure specialist lances.  There were currently 10 units across Scotland predominantly in isolated northern areas, an advantage being that these could be manned with just 4 officers

 

4.2       Group Manager (GM) Jaffray then presented the SFRS Local Plan Performance Report for the period 1 April 2018 to 30 September 2018, copies of which had been circulated with the agenda.  He firstly referred to a large fire that had occurred on a farm near Kelso, in September, where additional resources had been brought in which included engines from Northumberland.  He thanked all the crews and retained firefighters involved.  GM Jaffray went on to identify the headline outputs for the period relating to the SFRS priorities:-

 

4.3       Reduction of ‘Dwelling Fires’ – SFRS attended 44 dwelling fires over the period, a slight increase of 1 from the same period last year.  Seven of the fires were started deliberately.  48% of the fires originated in the kitchen with almost all involving cooking or cooking appliances.

 

4.4       Reduction of ‘All Fire Casualties’ – There had been 8 fire related casualties so far in 2018.  This was the same as the figure for the corresponding period last year. Further analysis showed that five casualties went to hospital for precautionary checks suffering from smoke inhalation.  Three casualties received first aid at the scene and required no further treatment.

 

4.5       Reduction of  ‘All Deliberate Fires Excluding Dwellings’ –  There had been 82 deliberate fires over the period, a decrease of 33 from the same period last year.  Galashiels and District experienced 31% of all deliberate fires across the Scottish Borders, however this was a welcome decrease of 44% for the ward area compared to the same period last year.  The majority of these fires involved grass, scrubland and woodland which may partly have been attributable to the prolonged dry period earlier in the year.

 

4.6       Reduction of ‘Special Service Road Traffic Collisions’ – During the first two quarters of 2018 SFRS had attended 41 Road Traffic Collisions (RTCs), 3 more that the same period last year.  There had been 23 RTC related casualties with one fatality during Quarter one.  On 13 occasions SFRS used Hydraulic Rescue Equipment to extricate casualties.

 

4.7       Reduction of ‘Special Service Casualties’ – There were a total of 44 attendances by SFRS at non-fire related incidents: 8 effecting entry; 4 assisting other agencies; 23 RTC casualties; and 9 others including rescues from water, flooding etc. 

           

4.8       Reduction of ‘False Alarm – Equipment Failure’ – The figure contained within the report related to Equipment Failure as this was the cause of the majority of Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS) incidents. There had been 484 UFAS incidents in the period, a slight reduction of 4 compared with the same period the previous year.  A UFAS champion had been appointed and tasked to analyse statistics and look at trends in an attempt to reduce the number of UFAS calls.

 

4.9       In response to a question about the SFRS ‘cardiac arrest’ project GM Jaffray advised that this had been stopped in October 2017 and was part of national negotiations.  He hoped the initiative would be re-established and expanded; there would be an effort to ensure the stations and officers involved would maintain their skills to support this emergency response.   

 

4.10     GM Jaffray then went on to advise on Prevention and Protection Activities.  Copies of a report detailing figures from the Quarter 1 July 2018 to 30 September 2018 had been circulated with the agenda.  GM Jaffray explained that enforcement audits and home safety visits had veered off ambition targets set in 2014 due to focusing resources on those properties at greatest risk.  Fire Safety Enforcement Audits had been carried out on those properties identified as high risk. Although other audits were below target this would be addressed over the coming months with no negative impact on agreed workloads.  SFRS were currently reviewing local Home Fire Safety Visit targets, how they were determined and how they were reported. Members of the Board welcomed SFRS partnership working which was outlined in the report.  Home Fire Safety Visits were generated via several pathways involving partner agencies.  Referrals from partners were key to identifying individuals most at risk of fire within the home.  In response to a question about youth engagement GM Jaffray confirmed that the service was continuing to work with the TD1 youth group in Galashiels.  It was proposed to roll-out the scheme in other areas although the format may be changed.

 

DECISION

NOTED the report.

 

Supporting documents:

 

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