Fire crews based a minute away had to wait 20 minutes for a specialist fire engine - after their high reach appliance was recently removed
Ayr firefighters were left without vital equipment to tackle the major Station Hotel blaze, a trade union has revealed.
And they have hit out at Ayr MSP Siobhian Brown, who oversees the fire service in her role as Minister for Victims and Community Safety. Ayr FBU branch secretary Kerr McCrone told Ayrshire Live: "The Station Hotel was one of Ayr’s biggest risks, a large unsafe derelict building right beside a busy train station and petrol station in the town centre of Ayr.
Kerry says that SFRS chiefs intend to reduce high reach appliances across the board from 26 to 16 in a bid to reduce capital backlog. Colin Brown, Scottish Executive Council member of the FBU, said: "The fire at the Station Hotel Ayr is the latest example of the madness of the cuts being imposed on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
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