Halifax firefighters refuse to go to car fire because of strike

Firefighters from Halifax refused to attend a car fire on the M62 this afternoon (Friday) because it fell during a period of industrial action.

The crew was called to a report that a Ford Focus was on fire on the eastbound carriageway of the M62 between junction 22 (Rishworth Moor) and junction 23 (Huddersfield) at 11.48am.

Whilst en route to the incident, at 12.02pm, the Halifax crew refused to attend the incident and returned to the station. This was because the incident fell during a Fire Brigade Union period of Industrial action (the union is carrying out two strike’s today between 12pm and 2pm and then from 10.50pm until 11.59pm because of objections to the Government’s planned pension reforms).

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Contingency crews were mobilised to deal with the car fire. The first appliance to the incident arrived approximately 35 minutes from the time of call.

The car fire was effectively dealt with by the contingency crew who extinguished the fire and remained at the incident until the scene was safe.

A West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson said: “We are looking into the circumstances of this incident.”