DURING the industrial action by members of the Fire Brigades’ Union between 6am and 8am today, Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service attended no incidents.

To deal with the strike, the Service had 12 appliances available ‘on station’ and a further three ‘on call’. On an average day, the Service would expect to have around 24 appliances available.

Of the firefighters scheduled to work during the morning, 73 were on duty and 146 were on strike. This saw the fire stations in Salisbury, Trowbridge, Chippenham, Stratton, Swindon and Westlea closed for the duration, and the on-call stations at Melksham, Warminster, Calne and Pewsey were also unavailable.

As of 8am, all striking crews returned to duty.

Chief Fire Officer Simon Routh-Jones said: “My thanks go to those staff who made themselves available to maintain an emergency response across the county – fortunately, we had just one false alarm during the first strike and no incidents this morning. While we were quiet, it was imperative that our communities could be sure that 999 calls were responded to quickly, and I am very proud that we were able to keep such a good level of fire cover throughout both periods of action.

“After early hope that progress was being made in this national dispute between the FBU and the Government, it now seems as though the two sides are some way from finding a resolution. This is obviously very disappointing, and we can only hope that negotiations will continue.”