FIRE service chiefs have presented a “very encouraging” report to councillors on emergency incidents in the Stewartry over the last year.
The fire and rescue service annual performance report for April 2023 – March 2024 was tabled at Stewartry Area Committee on Wednesday.
In it, Stewartry area station commander Chris Ross wrote: “The performance report for this reporting year is very encouraging. Overall, there has been a 18 percent reduction on the total number of incidents reported within Stewartry, with large reductions in all special services and false alarms, by 37 percent and 19 percent respectively.
“Whilst the number of fire casualties has increased by two, it comes from a position of zero in 2022-23.
Firefighters carried out 157 home fire safety visits in the area last year, 66 of which were classified as high-risk.
Just two casualties were reported in Stewartry last year as a result of accidental dwelling fires, both of which only required first aid at the scene for slight smoke inhalation.
Station Commander Ross wrote: “There was a 33 percent reduction in the number of casualties suffering unintentional injury and harm.
“Sadly, firefighters attended three fatal incidents whilst assisting other agencies or attending other types of special service incidents.”
The number of road traffic collisions fire crews attended this year dropped from 21 in 2022-23 to 13 last year.
The number of casualties in those incidents also reduced from 11 to eight. However, there were two fatalities compared to one the previous year.
Over the last year, firefighters attended ten incidents at non-domestic premises in the Stewartry, nine of which were classed as accidental.
The report states: “These are generally commercial premises and can include sleeping risks, however it’s worth noting that nearly 25 percent of non-domestic fires were recorded in private garages or sheds.”
Meanwhile, the number of fire service callouts for unwanted fire alarm signals dropped from 117 in 2022-23 to 71 last year.
