Highland fire station upgrades completed

Upgrades to two Highland fire stations have been completed.

Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) invested a total of £4.6m in improvements to its Inverness and Dingwall sites.

The work included repairs to the buildings and the installation of new welfare facilities for firefighters.

There are also new decontamination areas where crews can clean up and manage equipment after attending fires and other emergencies.

Inverness Community Fire Station was first opened in 1956 and is a base for full-time and on-call firefighters.

SFRS spent £3m refurbishing the station.

Dingwall is an on-call station, where firefighters respond to emergencies via a pager system. Crew members are also involved in community fire prevention projects.

It first opened in 1971 and has had £1.6m-worth of improvements.

Chief Officer Ross Haggart said: "The safety and wellbeing of our staff is paramount, and I am proud of the improvements we’ve carried out at our Dingwall and Inverness stations.

"These upgrades ensure our dedicated staff have access to modern, state-of-the-art facilities that support their critical work in protecting the local community."

Area Commander Michael Humphreys added: "These improvements provide our firefighters with the modern facilities they need to work safely and deliver the highest level of service.

"They will benefit our local communities for years to come."