FIRE FIGHTERS ATTEND TO CALLS DESPITE STRIKE ACTION

Herts Fire and Rescue Service received 28 emergency calls while resilience crews attended 17 incidents across the country during the Fire Strike over the Bank Holiday weekend. The strike action, which took place from 2pm on May 3 2014 from 2pm to 2am on May 4, and on May from 10am to 3pm, was covered by up to eight whole time crews and five retained fire crews. Incidents attended between Saturday afternoon and the early hours of Sunday included a serious house fire, a road traffic collision where a person was trapped, a fire in a garage, three children locked in a car, a petrol spill at a filling station, a medical emergency and a road traffic collision with a small fire. On Sunday, crews covering the strike action attended a small fire in a restaurant, a deliberate fire in woodland, a toddler locked in a car and an automatic fire alarm in older persons sheltered housing. Roy Wilsher, Chief Fire Officer and Director of Community Protection, said: “There were busy periods during the weekend’s strike action, particularly on Saturday, and I’m pleased with how well the contingency crews worked to respond to 999 calls. I’d like to thank the crews and other staff who did work for their dedication and commitment to keeping residents safe. “We continue to hope that the Government and the FBU can resolve their dispute and that further walkouts can be avoided.” For fire safety and prevention advice visit www.hertsdirect.org/firestrike or call 0300 123 4046.