More than 30 calls during strike by Midland firefighters

West Midlands Fire Service revealed it received 34 calls between midday and 4pm yesterday when most of its firefighters had walked out in a row over planned changes to their pensions.

They sent fire engines to seven incidents using staff who had not gone on strike. They included three in Wolverhampton.

Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service attended four emergency incidents during the strike – lower than the three year average for that time of time.

Chief fire officer Peter Dartford had been in the control room monitoring calls.

The four incidents were a house fire in School Lane, Stafford, that was out by the time firefighters got there, a motorbike fire near Burslem College, a faulty smoke detector in Biddulph and a bonfire also out by the time the firefighters arrived in Longton.

Mr Dartford said: "We put a robust and carefully considered contingency plan in place to deal with emergency calls throughout the national FBU strike. Our appliances, which were down from 42 to 19, were strategically located around the county in order to provide cover which was as coherent as possible."

In Wolverhampton's Heath Town at 1.53pm, an engine was sent to a house where an acetylene cylinder had been found in a garden and at 2.33pm in Parkfields, an engine was sent to help get access to an elderly man who had collapsed in his house.

The biggest incident was in Edgbaston at 2.02pm when two fire engineers were sent to a fire that had started in a kitchen.

Area commander Paul Burnham, head of emergency response for West Midlands Fire Service, who coordinated the brigade's contingency planning, said: "We had planned to have 12 fire engines and three of our brigade response vehicles available during the strike, which we achieved through pre-planning and using staff who wouldn't usually be on the frontline."

Two minutes before the strike started, Dudley firefighters were called out. It turned out to be a faulty alarm at an address in Sedgley Road West, Tipton

Blue Watch Commander Pete Bate, who then joined his colleagues on the picket line, said: "We were still on duty - and had to do our job."

Firefighters at the Old Hednesford Road station in Cannock staged a walkout at midday and held a picket line outside the base.

Supporters of the Fire Brigades Union at Stafford did not stage a picket line at the Beaconside station however, as they said they did not want to strike but felt compelled to oppose the plans which they say are 'unsustainable' and 'ludicrous'.

FBU secretary for Staffordshire Barry Downey said: "We have fitness tests in place to ensure firefighters are fit on the frontline - but most people won't be able to maintain operational fitness after the age of 55.

"If people get older and fail the fitness tests and end up getting sacked, they won't be able to access the public sector pension which they've worked for for 30 or 40 years - that's not fair." A group of firefighters sat outside Walsall fire station to form a picket line after walking out.

Almost 30 firefighters walked out at Bloxwich fire station at midday, leaving the fire station unmanned. David Pitt, a watch commander from Aston fire station who was at the picket line in West Bromwich said: "What we are doing today is awful, but it's an awful situation to be put in – we've been negotiating for over two years."