The Scottish Government

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GENERAL STATISTICS

PERSONNEL AND OPERATIONS

Establishments and Strengths

82. The establishments and actual strengths of Scottish Fire and Rescue Services are given in Appendix 2 of this report. (Please note the requirement for a ministerial approved establishment figure ceased as at 31 March 2005).

Wholetime Personnel (Operational)

83. The actual strength of wholetime personnel (ie number of personnel actually in post as at 31 March 2008 was 4477; a reduction of 40 on the previous year.

Wholetime Establishment and Actual Strength from 2001-02 to 2007-08
(Establishment as at 31 March 2005)

Graph 1: Wholetime Establishment and Actual Strength 2001-02 to 2007-08

Retained Duty System Personnel

84. The figures relating to the establishment and actual strength in the Retained Duty System sector of the Service for the years 2001-02 to 2007-08 is shown below.

85. The actual number of Retained Duty System personnel in post in Scotland during 2007-08 was 3113; a reduction of 3 on the previous year.

Graph 2: Retained Duty System Establishment and Actual Strength 2001-02 to 2007-08

Volunteer Personnel

86. Details of the establishment and actual strength of the volunteer sector of the Service for the years 2001-02 and 2007-08 are shown below.

Graph 3: Volunteer Establishment and Actual Strength 2001-02 to 2007-08

87. The actual number of volunteers in post in Scotland during 2007-08 was 492; a reduction of 12.

Control Room Staff

88. In 2007-08, the actual number of Control Room staff in post was 228, an increase of 3 from the previous year.

Service Support Staff

89. The total number of Service support staff in post in 2007-08 was 1050.5, an increase of 27.5 personnel.

Operational Activity

90. Operational activity has decreased this year by 3%.

Incidents Attended by all Services 2007/2008

Primary fires are reportable fires in caravans, vehicles, structures, agricultural and forestry property, or any fire involving casualties or where 5 or more appliances have attended.

Secondary fires are reportable fires which were not primary fire locations, not chimney fires, did not involve casualties and had less than 5 appliances in attendance.

Chimney fires are reportable fires in occupied buildings where fire was confirmed within a chimney structure, casualties were not involved and less than 5 appliances attended.

Fatal Fire Incidents in Dwellings

Summary of Fatal Fire Incidents in Dwellings

Note 1: "Number of incidents" refers to the number of fires, not the number of fatalities.
Note 2: All percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.

91. Looking at the appalling loss of life due to fire in dwelling houses, Scotland has experienced a reversal in the downward trend of previous years and, in particular, against last year's extremely low figure.

92. The location of fire in fatal dwelling house fires has remained constant, with the large majority starting in the living room, followed by the kitchen.

93. Smoking materials remain the single highest identifiable cause, being responsible for almost 45% of fatal fire incidents in dwelling houses in Scotland.

94. The percentage of fatal fire incidents where smoke alarms functioned correctly has declined to 22%. This is clearly an extremely worrying indicator as it means that the occupants of the house have had an early warning of the presence of fire, however, they have failed to react to it. The reason for the occupant failing to react is varied; they can be under the influence of drink or drugs and simply not hear the warning, they can be elderly or ill and using medication whereby they also may not hear the warning, or in some cases be unable to escape without assistance.

95. It is in these scenarios where there is clear evidence of problems which may affect the occupant's ability to respond that the use of automatic fire sprinklers should be encouraged. There is good local evidence that where sprinklers have been fitted because of persistent fires occurring due to lifestyle, they have been very effective, not just in saving the lives of those directly affected by the initial fire, but also those who could be affected by fire spread.

96. Both Tayside and Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Services ran very effective demonstrations of sprinkler installations in dwelling houses and I would encourage all Services to continue the promotion of automatic fire sprinklers for life safety.

97. It should also be noted that the percentage of fatal fires occurring within homes without a smoke detector has risen to 19% together with the number of incidents where the alarm failed to function. While Services are carrying out the installation of large amounts of smoke alarms, care must also be taken that the elderly, infirm and those with social problems are targeted in the first instance as there is a higher risk of fire occurring in their homes.

98. Looking at the deceased person's lifestyle, it is noted that the percentage living alone had increased. However, the alcohol factor both as a direct and indirect contributor to incidents has fallen.

99. It remains very clear that despite the tremendous work done by Fire and Rescue Services across Scotland to provide Fire Risk Assessments in the home, and the continuing work with social partners in other agencies, there remains a strong case for a more risk-based approach to the provision of automatic fire sprinklers within social housing in Scotland.

100. In almost all cases, had the house been provided with automatic fire sprinklers, then a fatal fire would have been prevented. However, the Fire Services in Scotland are actively promoting automatic fire sprinklers for housing and Angus Council have become the first local authority to provide all new social housing in their area with automatic fire sprinklers as from 2009.

Fatal Fire Incidents: Summary

Summary of Fatalities

Injuries: Summary

Summary of Significant (Non-Fatal) Injuries to Non-Service Personnel

A. Fire Injuries

B. Non-Fire Injuries

Note 3: All percentages are rounded to 1 decimal place.

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