Dalbeattie fire station struggling with staffing levels
dailyrecord.co.ukA Stewartry fire station is struggling with staffing levels. Appliances are available at Dalbeattie less than half the time at weekends – and only two-thirds of the time during weekday evenings and nights.
But when this happens “emergency cover is still maintained within Dumfries and Galloway communities through alternative cover and standby arrangements.” Stewartry firefighters operate on a retained duty system, meaning they are not full-time but on call at certain periods.
Figures prepared for next week’s Stewartry area committee meeting show that between April and September last year, Dalbeattie’s appliance was available 52.44 per cent of the time between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday and 67.81 per cent of the time on weekday evenings.
During the weekend that figure drops to 48.02 per cent – giving a total availability over the week of 55.9 per cent. Availability at Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright is above 90 per cent over the course of the week, but at Gatehouse it is below 75 per cent and in New Galloway it is just over 67 per cent.
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