WILTSHIRE Fire & Rescue Service attended four incidents during the industrial action by members of the Fire Brigades’ Union between 6pm and 10pm today.

These were three false alarms - in Swindon, Tidworth and Pewsey - and a small fire in Purton.

The Tidworth incident was covered by Ludgershall as normal; a crew from Marlborough attended the incident in Pewsey; the resilience appliance operating in Swindon dealt with the false alarm and then attended the fire in Purton with a crew from Cricklade.

This small fire at a house in Reids Piece was quickly extinguished. An elderly gentleman was assisted from the property and he was treated for smoke inhalation by paramedics.

Crews at ten of Wiltshire’s 24 fire stations were unavailable to respond to incidents during the strike, but the Service had contingency plans in place to maintain cover across the county using on-call firefighters and alternative locations as appropriate. As a result, there were 12 appliances available ‘on station’ and a further six ‘on call’.

As of 10pm, all striking crews returned to duty.

Chief Fire Officer Simon Routh-Jones said: “I was pleased that our contingency plans worked well over the course of the evening, and we were able to maintain fire cover across the four hours. However, we cannot become complacent, and we know that continued industrial action will undoubtedly have an impact on the service we provide to local communities.”