RESILIENCE crews have been called to a number of fires and road traffic accidents during a 24-hour walk out by fire crews yesterday.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service said it dealt with all emergency calls over the period of the strike, from 9am on Thursday (June 12) until 9am this morning (June 13).

They included a call to Bristol Children’s Hospital at 8.39pm last night but on arrival the call out was found to be a false alarm. The fire alarms had activated due to a system fault.

At 7.45am this morning one resilience crew was called to the Bristol Oncology Centre but again found it was a false alarm after bread had been burned in a toaster.

At 12.46pm on Thursday resilience crews attended a call to a car fire on the M5 motorway, between junctions 18 and 17 northbound, but on arrival found it to be a false alarm with good intent.

A crew dealt with a rubbish fire in St Mary’s Park, Church Road, Yate at 2.44pm on Thursday. Firefighters extinguished the blaze using an aqua jet back and the cause is believed to have been deliberate.

At 2.52am on Friday one crew attended a call to Jubilee Lane in Cromhall to reports of a car overheating. They stood down after the fire was found to be a false alarm.

Three crews were called to the westbound carriageway of the M4 between junctions 22 and 23 at 4.47am this morning to reports of a collision involving a car and a lorry. People in all three vehicles were already out of their cars when crews arrived and no-one was seriously injured in the accident.

Avon Fire and Rescue Service spokesman Stephanie Mounsey said: “During the 24-hour period we were able to cope with all calls received.

“Normal service has now been resumed.”

Firefighters were striking over a row with the government about their pensions. There have already been 12 walk-outs in the long-running dispute but this is the first time firefighters will have gone on strike for a full 24 hours.