HOUSE fires make up just four per cent of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s callouts in East Lothian, it has been revealed, but one in three incidents attended by crews is a false alarm.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service revealed that 33 per cent of calls they  attended in the county over the last five years were Unwanted Fire Alarm Signals (UFAS), while house fires were just four per cent of their callouts –  with the number falling each year.

In 2016/2017, crews attended 52 house fires in the county, where eight people required treatment; there were 229 deliberate fires outside the home and 457 UFAS.

The service also supported police and ambulance services at 50 road traffic incidents and visited more than 1,000 homes as part of a fire safety initiative.

Steve Gourlay, local senior officer for East Lothian, Midlothian and Scottish Borders, told a meeting of East Lothian Council that the service had changed with a pilot project resulting in crews based in Musselburgh providing Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest (OHCA) support to ambulance colleagues.

He said that they were also trialling a more general home visit initiative which looked not just at fire safety but other potential risks at home.

Mr Gourlay said: “While we continue to prepare for and respond to incidents such as fires and road traffic collisions, we must also ensure we are ready to deal with the changing risks society face, including an ageing population, the effects of climate change on the environment, and terrorism.

“This change in how and what we respond to has already been experienced in East Lothian, with local crews responding to OHCA as a pilot project.

“A separate initiative has seen our home safety visits evolve into a more holistic approach, taking into account the risk of slips, trips and falls in the home as well as identifying those at risk from fuel poverty and other vulnerabilities.”

Mr Gourlay said a review of fire services in East Lothian was under way as part of a national review, with plans to recruit a full-time rural officer to oversee retained fire teams in the county.

He said: “As part of our transformation work we are looking at the best way to provide the appropriate protection for the communities of East Lothian.”