Heat turned up in fire dispute

A MOTHER and three children died when fire ripped through a farmhouse early today.

The blaze, near Devizes in Wiltshire, was dealt with by retained firefighters who are not taking part in the current 48-hour strike and would have been called to the fire even if full-timers had been working.

A spokesman for Wiltshire Police said: "As far as we are concerned, it was normal service from the fire service and nothing to do with the dispute. No Green Goddesses were deployed."

The victims, a woman of 32 and three children aged eight, 11 and 15, were in an address at Sleight cottages near Stert. It is believed that the woman's partner managed to escape the fire but the rest of the family were trapped. A spokesman for the Wiltshire fire service said that six fire engines and a water carrier attended the scene after the emergency call at 2.20am.

He said police officers, scenes of crime officers and fire investigators were looking into the cause of the fire.

"Whether there had been a strike or not, it would have been the same crew who would have gone," he added.

Wiltshire ambulance service control manager Richard Claridge said they attended the fire and took one man from the scene to Princess Margaret Hospital in Swindon. He did not know his condition.

The tragedy takes the number of deaths in house fires to seven since the fire strike began on Wednesday at 6pm.

Green Goddesses were called into action in Manchester after a fireworks warehouse was ravaged by fire. Army crews battled for five hours until 8pm last night to bring the blaze under control at the building in Ancoats.

Engineers were due to decide today whether to demolish the warehouse.

Four Green Goddesses and three breathing apparatus rescue teams were in action.

Nobody was thought to be inside the building but two people were taken to hospital as a result of the fire.

A spokesman for Greater Manchester Ambulance Service said one of the casualties was a regular firefighter, one of many who broke their own picket to attend the fire. He needed hospital treatment for a slight eye injury.

The other casualty, a resident at a nearby care home, was taken to hospital suffering from smoke inhalation.

In Bolton soldiers manning the town's two Green Goddesses were called to a house fire early today.

Two adults and two children had to be taken to hospital after the incident at Common Street, Westhoughton, at 1.35am.

Both crews from the Territorial Army barracks, on Nelson Street, got to the scene and extinguished the flames.

The family had already escaped the house when the Green Goddesses arrived. They were taken to the Royal Bolton Hospital as a precaution after they inhaled smoke.

A Green Goddess crew was then sent to a suspected gas leak at a derelict building on Forton Avenue, Breightmet, at 2.50am. They arrived at the scene, but left soon afterwards when it was made safe by Transco.

Earlier in the evening, the crews had dealt with two false alarms.

The first call came at 7.25pm when there was a report of a chip pan fire in Deane, but when the soldiers arrived at Jessie Street there was no sign of an incident.

The Green Goddess was called an hour later to reports of a skip fire in Farnworth, but when they arrived at Kwik Save, in Longcauseway, it also proved to be a false alarm.

Green Goddess crews were today bracing themselves for more emergency call-outs after attending more than 1,200 incidents across the country since the firefighters' strike began.

Meanwhile striking firefighters at Bolton Central station were joined on the picket line by control room staff in their fight for increased pay.

The people who deal with 999 calls to the Greater Manchester County Fire Service, based in Swinton, are also Fire Brigade Union members and shut down their computers and left their posts on Wednesday at 6pm.

Fire control officer, Jane Fisher, from Little Lever, said: "Staff from the control room have gone along to support their local stations today. When we do our jobs we rely on the crews 100 per cent, but they always give 150 per cent when they are called on. We've come down here today to give our support, not just for the staff of the fire service in Bolton but for the whole of the country."

Another control room staff member, Karen Bridges, from Lostock, took a cut in pay when she joined the fire service from her council job. She said: "We are all very disappointed that the situation has come to this. This was absolutely the last resort."

Home Office minister Lord Falconer has raised the stakes in the bitter firefighters' dispute by confirming that the Government is prepared to order troops to cross picket lines to use red fire engines if the union moves to eight-day strikes.

The Government has also risked controversy by hinting that ministers were considering moves to ban strikes in the fire service.

"The priority is public safety," Lord Falconer said.

"If public safety ultimately requires that the Army cross picket lines to get the red fire engines, then that is what will have to be done because, ultimately, public safety has got to come before picket lines."

As the 48-hour walkout by members of the Fire Brigades Union continued, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott attacked the walkout as "wrong and unjustified" and warned that lives were being put at risk.

The union said many of its members had left picket lines to deal with emergencies, but remained solidly behind the campaign for a 40 per cent pay rise.

Mr Prescott's officials said the Government was "prepared to look at everything", although they refused to confirm whether strike bans or using fire tenders during stoppages were being considered.

Hoax calls increased after the strike started, leading to warnings from the Government of tough action to track down those responsible.

Mr Prescott said of the hoaxers: "We need to stiffen the approach of the courts in dealing with these people when caught."