A BUSINESSMAN whose property was badly hit by a massive blaze during what would have been the first firefighters' strike spoke out today as industrial action loomed this evening.

Fire ripped through Brian Dale's business on Wheelgate, Malton, only hours after the strike had been due to begin. The strike was called off at the last minute.

Crews from Scarborough and York attended the fire, as well as full-time firefighters from Malton and retained crews from Malton, Sherburn and Pickering.

Senior officers said after the fire that the intensity of the blaze would almost certainly have seriously damaged much of the town's main shopping street. Mr Dale said it would have been a devastating fire had firefighters not been able to attend from all over North Yorkshire.

"It would have been a disastrous fire, heartbreaking for the street," he said.

Even with almost 40 firefighters on the scene, Mr Dale's florists and fruit and vegetable shop, as well as Dazzles' gift shop and Thorpe and Co Solicitors were very badly damaged.

Mr Dale said he still had great sympathy for the firefighters and could appreciate why they felt the need to strike.

"It's very dangerous for them," he said.

"The firefighters themselves all do a brilliant job, and it's a shame they have to strike to get more money."

Mr Dale, whose nephew and best friend are both full-time firefighters at Malton, said if there were to be a fire in the Ryedale area during the strikes, the retained firefighters would be on hand to help their community. But he said he also thought that full-time firefighters would not stand by during a serious fire and abandon the retained crews.

"The local firemen would come in,I think, with the retained," he said.

"They would not stand down and watch that fire burn up, I feel sure.

"I would think the majority would not stand down."

Updated: 12:00 Wednesday, November 13, 2002