Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 18 November 2021 to Question 74892, what the location is of the High Reach vehicle that the Scottish Fire and Rescue service can provide to tackle high-rise fires at HMNB Clyde.

All high-rise buildings at HMNB Clyde are equipped with modern Fire Safety Systems which are designed to detect a fire in its early stages and provide an alarm throughout the building. It is MOD policy to evacuate buildings on the sounding of the fire alarm and this is regularly practised and recorded. The Fire alarm system is connected to a central control room who dispatch the on-site DFR FRS to the scene of the alarm. Therefore, the DFR FRS are expected to arrive at any incident at an early stage and to utilise internal access to commence firefighting activity. Internal fire-fighting is the primary and preferred option in tackling a fire.

Firefighting crews will always seek to use early intervention and the preferred option of internal firefighting actions, which would reduce the requirement to pitch any ladder for external access.

The number and of types of appliances, equipment and personnel attending any incident is determined by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and initial Incident Commander on the scene, based on the specifics of the incident. The High Reach vehicle, a Rosenbauer aerial ladder platform, is not closely proximate to the base but could be requested from its standing location at Falkirk Community Fire Station.