18 fire stations across Scotland have no running water as firefighters treated with 'contempt'

The statistics, obtained by the Scottish Conservatives, come in the wake of proposals unveiled this week by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) to close up to 13 stations due to funding cuts.

The 18 stations without running water are primarily located across the Highlands and rural areas, and include Cromarty, Foyers and Spean Bridge.

The SFRS, which has seen its budget cut by £57 million in real terms over ten years, was criticised by the Health and Safety Executive earlier this year for the facilities at some stations.

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Colin Brown, of the Fire Brigades Union, said the service has seen year-on-year cuts to jobs and services.

“Decades of underfunding have left the Scottish fire service with a crumbling estate and an eye-watering £800 million hole in their capital finances,” he said. “What we need is sustained investment in staff, stations and equipment to keep our communities safe.”

Conservative MSP Sharon Dowey MSP said: “These shocking figures are proof of the SNP’s contempt for Scotland’s brave firefighters.

“It’s shameful and negligent that they are risking the health and wellbeing of dedicated emergency workers by denying them access to the most basic yet essential facilities at work.

“SNP ministers have been short-changing the service for years, leaving firefighters to do their job with one hand behind their back, jeopardising public safety.

“On their watch, the number of firefighters is plummeting, stations are being earmarked for closure and now we learn a growing number of bases lack running water. This situation is intolerable, unsustainable and could have devastating consequences.”

Capital backlog of over £800m

Assistant Chief Officer Craig McGoldrick, director of training, safety and assurance for the SFRS, said: “It is well documented that SFRS has an insurmountable capital backlog of more than £800 million and that many of our ageing buildings require action.

“We can only address this by changing how we work. We’re currently running a public consultation that outlines 23 options for change to help address urgent property issues and ensure our resources – staff, stations and appliances are matched to operational risk and demand across Scotland.”

He added: “The safety of our firefighters will always be a priority and it’s important that our crews can shower and clean kit following attendance at an incident with potential contaminants.

“£3.2m is being invested by the service into the management of fire contaminants and this includes boosting our reserves of personal protective equipment, enhanced storage for contaminated kit and new laundry procedures.

“For the small number of stations without running water, specialist decontamination wipes have been provided.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “Scotland’s firefighters do an amazing job and the Scottish Government continues to support the SFRS to deliver the high standard of services required to keep Scotland safe with an overall budget of £412.2m, an increase of £18.8m for 2025/26. Scotland continues to have more firefighters per capita than other parts of the UK.

“The SFRS has been clear that the changes proposed are not about cuts, but so it can adapt to the changing risks and demands of communities and ensure firefighters are in the right place at the right time.

“For example, eight of the 13 stations in the review have not been operational for a number of years and dwelling fires have reduced by over 20 per cent since 2013 whilst climate related events such as flooding and wildfires have increased.”