BY BRIAN MITCHELL INVESTOR’S BUSINESS DAILY Posted 12/21/2006 Former Virginia Gov. James Gilmore added his name to the list of GOP White House hopefuls this week, saying the field lacks a real conservative capable of winning. Gilmore announced he was mulling a run in several interviews. “There is no committed conservative in this race who can put together a national campaign. I can do that,” he told the Washington Post. He brings to seven the number of Republicans...

A BIG rise in the number of female firefighters has left some stations in the Lothians struggling to provide enough changing rooms for women.

The number of full-time female fire staff working in Lothian and Borders has rocketed by more than a third in three years.

One in three of all female firefighters in Scotland are now based in the area - more than any other area in the country.

But union leaders and staff say the intake has put pressure on some stations that have inadequate female changing rooms.

Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service now employs 39 women on a full-time basis at “ground level”, a 35 per cent increase in only five years.

One firefighter says that most stations in the city have only one shower and one toilet for women - meaning there are often queues for the facilities.

Denise Christie, 34, who is based at Tollcross Fire Station where six other women are based, has worked for the fire service for ten years and was one of the earliest recruits.

Until last year, the station had only one shower and toilet for seven women to share. But extensive improvement work was carried out in May and it now has four separate showers and toilets.

Ms Christie wants to see other stations meet the same criteria as Tollcross. She said: “The fire service, especially in Lothian and Borders, has done so well in getting women numbers up. But if they want to retain them they need to improve the facilities.”

Gavin Barrie, the Lothian and Borders branch chairman of the Fire Brigade Union, said:

“The fire stations still need to be modernised and that adds an additional financial pressure.

“More work needs to be done to make sure as many people as possible realise this is a job for both sexes. Facilities like changing rooms are an important part.”

Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue has applied to the Scottish Executive for a grant of 180,000 to manage issues to do with “dignity and disabilities” at its stations. It is awaits a decision.

Wayne McCollin, an assistant chief fire officer said: “Fire stations were not built with facilities for women and we are always trying to improve the facilities we have. Every station now has facilities for female employees and we are part of the way through a programme of improvements to these. It does take time but we are determined to get the right facilities in.”

He also said that the number of female firefighters now working in the area is a reflection of the amount of work that has gone into attracting more applications from women.

He said: “It is a gradual process because we have a very low turnover of staff and people often tend to work for us for 30 years. You can’t change the selection process, but you can change the number of applicants, and that is what we have been trying to do.”

Ken Harrold, convener of the Lothian and Borders Fire Board, said: “It is a firm policy as a fire board that we should attempt to increase female firefighter numbers.

“But we don’t want it to be tokenism. We want to go out there and speak to women and explain why they can join. But they will only be employed if they meet the intellectual, mental and physical rigours that the job requires.

“We are moving to ensure that every station has good facilities for women and that is an ongoing process. We’ve come a long way in ten years and we want to continue that.”

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- http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=544
http://news.scotsman.com/topics.cfm?tid=544

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