Council calls for return of second fire appliance

South Lanarkshire Council is requesting that a second 24/7 fire engine is restored to Hamilton Fire Station in an alternative proposal to the current Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) consultation about changes to provision for the area.

- JUDITHTONNER

South Lanarkshire Council is requesting that a second 24/7 fire engine is restored to Hamilton Fire Station in an alternative proposal to the current Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) consultation about changes to provision for the area.

The Bothwell Road base has housed only one appliance since September 2023 when its second engine became one of 10 across Scotland to be “temporarily withdrawn” amid an £11 million budget gap - and now current fire service plans will either make the change permanent, or reintroduce it on a dayshift-only basis.

Councillors have agreed an official consultation response preferring the latter option and welcoming the prospect of restoring a second fire engine to the area but it expresses concern about evening and weekend response times and asks that a second engine with additional on-call crewing outside the dayshift pattern is based at Hamilton under either plan, citing its more central location and motorway links compared to the proposed location of Cumbernauld.

Hamilton's second rescue pump appliance was withdrawn two years ago and “the council raised concerns regarding this change at the time through the Safer South Lanarkshire board’, as well as by writing to the chief fire officer and Scottish Government, while more than 1500 people signed an online petition against the move.

SFRS has always emphasised that Hamilton remains staffed at all times and say of the current service review: “There is no option to change Hamilton’s appliance from 24/7 cover.”