Fire Brigades Union General Secretary Matt Wrack saluted the ‘astonishing flexibility’ of modern firefighters as 120 union members continued to work at the site of the Clutha pub in Glasgow.
‘As our colleagues work through the rubble searching for victims, we are reminded of the incredible range of incidents that firefighters deal with. This is the second helicopter crash we have tackled this year, following the incident in central London in January,’ Wrack said.
‘Firefighters plan and train for a range of emergency incidents far wider than just fires. This incident is drawing on a range of skills and specialist teams that have been developed in recent years.
‘The fact that 120 firefighters have been working overnight demonstrates the need to be able to rapidly deploy large numbers of firefighters to such a challenging operation.’
Wrack said the union would carefully monitor the situation and assess what lessons might need to be learned.
The union points out that this was not the only incident our Emergency Fire Control and Fire crews dealt with last night. They were involved in a number of other serious incidents including multiple rescues. The emergency fire control in Johnstone dealt with a huge volume of calls.
Roddy Robertson, Fire Brigades Union Executive Council member for Scotland said, ‘It was an extremely busy night for Scottish firefighters in the Glasgow area and beyond with a level 2 incident in Pitt Street and multiple rescues at a fire in Broad Street In the city. An incident room was opened and we had off duty staff in various roles offering their services.
‘The thoughts of all FBU members are with the families of those injured or bereaved. The commitment of our firefighters overnight shows they do a job like no other.’
