AS part of the ongoing national dispute between the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and the Government over the proposed reform of firefighter pension schemes nationally, a further strike date has been announced by the FBU from 7am today for 24 hours.

A large percentage of firefighters are retained (part-time or on-call), and many of them are not members of the FBU, so are not involved in the strike ballot and many will be working as normal. These staff are fully-trained operational staff.

A fire service spokesman said: “A number of fire stations in North Yorkshire, particularly in the more rural areas (where a lot of retained stations are), will be unaffected by the strike. In addition, we will move some fire engines so they are closer to locations where crews will be striking to ensure there is fire cover in place across most of the area. We have also taken the measure of reinforcing our emergency cover for strike periods, by re-employing some operational firefighters, who recently left the service. These individuals are in addition to our existing pool of staff who are working during the strike.

“Although we will seek to respond to all emergencies as quickly as possible this will not be a normal level of service as we will be operating with fewer, than normal, resources, and it is possible that it may take longer than usual for some fire engines to arrive if we are very busy. We are asking that everyone takes extra care during the strike period.”