Soldiers struggle to replace Britain's striking firefighters

LONDON -- The emergency call about a house fire came through Thursday afternoon to a reserve army barracks whose soldiers are replacing Britain's striking firefighters.

First, they didn't know where the fire was.

As soldiers rushed out of their buildings -- including one who had been showering and wore a towel around his waist -- it took several minutes of searching through city maps to find the street.

Then came the equipment.

Jumping aboard antiquated trucks known as "Green Goddesses," the soldiers tried to race from their barracks. But the vehicles can only manage 30 mph fully loaded with water.

In the end, the crew in Lambeth, south of the River Thames, felt lucky the emergency turned out to be a false alarm.

On the second day of a national strike by Britain's 50,000 full-time firefighters, it was easy to see why some Britons were worried.

"I'm not in favor of the strike," said Ella Guilding, 20, of London. "It's pretty dangerous what they're doing."

Since Wednesday, when the 48-hour walkout began, three people have died in house fires in Britain. It wasn't clear whether the strike contributed directly to the deaths -- and in one case, firefighters left a picket line to help.

Still, the government showed no signs of easing its position against the Fire Brigades Union, which is staging the first strike by the nation's firefighters in a quarter-century.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott warned that if the union goes ahead with a planned eight-day strike, officials "may have to review many of the issues which until now we have kept off the table." He didn't elaborate, but the remark seemed to indicate a toughening government stance.

About 18,500 members of the army, navy and air force were ordered to replace the firefighters, taxing the armed forces at a time when many servicemen and women are deployed in the Balkans or preparing for possible action in Iraq.

Some editorialists call the strike the biggest challenge Prime Minister Tony Blair's Labor Party has faced since he came to power in 1997. Blair has resolved to resist the kind of union activism that drove the last Labor government out of power in the 1970s.

"The nation is at risk," Blair told British Broadcasting Corp. radio on Thursday. "We are doing everything we can to prepare for that risk." But asked if he would consider banning strikes by key public sector workers, he said: "I don't think you can take away people's right to strike."

This week, the local authorities who employ the firefighters offered them an 11 percent pay raise over two years, a proposal Fire Brigades Union leader Andy Gilchrist called insulting.

The 40 percent union demand would raise salaries to $49,600 a year, but Gilchrist said he would consider any "serious and significant" proposal.

Debate intensified over whether soldiers should have access to modern fire trucks, instead of the 1950s-era Green Goddesses.

Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon told the BBC that training was the main issue, saying fire engines had been in use before the strike and unavailable for practice. Blair's spokesman said officials might consider using the modern engines if an eight-day strike goes ahead.

The soldier crews began work at 6 p.m. Wednesday, when the firefighters started the first of the series of threatened strikes. Eight-day strikes were threatened for Nov. 22, and Dec. 4 and 16.

Operators of the London Underground trains shut 22 stations they said they could not operate safely without fire protection.

In many parts of the country, police reported a flood of hoax emergency calls, further stretching coverage.

At the closed fire stations where union members stood outside, many passing vehicles honked their horns in support or gave thumbs-up gestures. Some pedestrians dropped donations in plastic buckets. Others said Britain must address the growing gap between "haves" such as stockbrokers, and "have-nots" such as public employees.

But some were nervous about what will happen with car wrecks and house fires without firefighters around.

"If I were a fireman, a policeman, a nurse or a doctor, my conscience wouldn't let me strike," said Mike Hennessy, 53, who said he was in the transport business.