A LOT has happened since the last firefighters' strike. Christmas, the New Year, a heightened terror threat and the deployment of more than 30,000 British soldiers to the Gulf served to push the fire dispute to the back of the public mind.

So today's walkout acts as a sharp reminder that no settlement is in sight. And the new circumstances make the firefighters' decision to down hoses again even more worrying than before.

At a time when a terrorist attack seems imminent, we would wish our emergency professionals to be in a state of heightened readiness. The Armed Forces, now on war alert, could do without manning Green Goddesses again. And the strike is also a major distraction to a Government faced with some gravely important decisions.

When so many key people have so much to lose from the strike the question must be: why is it going ahead?

Depressingly, the answer lies in intransigence at the top. This dispute was within minutes of being settled last year. Since then, the two sides have not so much drifted apart as marched away from one another and into freshly-dug trenches.

What started out as a pay dispute has become a fight over the future of the service. According to the employers, the Bain report on fire brigade reform "is the only game in town".

That is an ultimatum, not a negotiating gambit. But the union is equally wrong to call a strike when both sides say they are prepared to talk.

The ordinary firefighters, the troops and the public are the ones who suffer. In the wake of a terrible spate of fatal road crashes, we hope North Yorkshire motorists are prompted to take extra care today and during any future strikes.

As for finding a settlement, it is imperative that new, independent negotiators, with experience in running large organisations, are brought in. A fresh way of thinking is needed to force movement from the two entrenched sides.

Updated: 12:27 Tuesday, January 21, 2003