Fire crews returned to work in West Yorkshire last night after an eighth day of strike action.

Crews took strike action between 5pm and 7pm to end a long period of industrial action by members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in a dispute over pensions.

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has covered this period, which has included 15 short strikes of two hours duration, using contingency crews made up of non-striking fully qualified officers and Community Response Operatives.

The operatives were specifically recruited to provide support during periods of industrial action and were given three weeks‟ training in basic fire and rescue response.

During the hours of strike over the last eight days the brigade received a total of 193 calls and attended 95 incidents. Many calls were duplicates to the same incident and some were of a minor nature where advice could be given.

Chief Fire Officer Simon Pilling said: “Delivering a contingency plan that provided a resilient fire and rescue service for West Yorkshire over the eight consecutive days of strike action has been a tremendous challenge.

“I am hugely grateful to everyone who has been part of that plan, without whom we simply would not have been able to protect the public in the way that we have.

“I once again reiterate my plea for the Fire Brigades Union to meet with the Minister and for both to find a way to resolve this dispute.”

In last night’ strike, the brigade received nine calls and attended five incidents.

They included fires in the open in Hions Close, Brighouse, Partridge Crescent, Thornhill, Dewsbury, Myrtle Place, Bingley and High Street, Morley.

Assistant Chief Officer Dave Walton said: “The fifteenth strike in an eight day period has now passed without major incident.

“We have promoted our, Take Extra Care‟ fire prevention message throughout this on-going dispute and will continue to do so. The best way for anyone not to be harmed or suffer loss from fire is for that fire to not occur in the first place, be that during a strike period or not.”

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