FIVE full-time firefighters defied the wrath of their colleagues to break a picket line in Devon yesterday, becoming a symbol of the issues at the heart of the strike.

The men believe the Fire Service should be allowed to aid the Ambulance Service in responding to medical emergencies. As part of Plymstock fire station’s White Watch, they resigned from the Fire Brigades Union earlier this year because of its opposition to a pilot reform scheme of sending fire crews to administer first aid with defibrillators, which use electric shocks to revive heart-attack victims.

They looked grim-faced as police escorted them past an angry 60-strong picket, enduring abuse such as “scab” and “shame”, and a deafening scream of whistles. It is believed to have been the first time full-time firefighters have crossed the picket line during this industrial action.

Four of the members of the watch, starting their shift at 9am, arrived in a white rental van, another on foot. The angry crowd was drawn from fire stations as far away as London. More than 50 police officers were on duty.

The strike-breakers paused to hear appeals from three FBU representatives. A further member of White Watch was persuaded to stay on the picket line and the final crewmate reported sick.

Their action drew condemnation from the union. Dave Chappell, the Devon FBU chairman, recalled those who chose to cross picket lines in the previous firefighter strike in 1977, prompting years of acrimony among colleagues.

“It is very, very sad day, particularly for Plymouth firefighters who have got to work with these people after the dispute,” Mr Chappell said. “This was a very, very poor reflection on their attitude and loyalty to their workmates.

“Feelings are running high. Everyone is feeling the strain emotionally and financially. To see people going to work and earning money when you are not is very painful.”

Yesterday the five men said that they had “spent much time deliberating before reaching this decision”, but were “being falsely accused of strike breaking” as they were no longer FBU members.

The question of whether to assist the Ambulance Service has caused deep divisions among Britain’s firefighters for years.

When the men of White Watch resigned from the FBU last May, it was in disgust over the FBU’s decision to ban its members from participating in a modernising scheme to allow crews to come to the aid of the ambulance workers.

But they were not alone: 22 of the 28 staff of the Plymstock fire station left the FBU as a result. The other Plymstock defectors rejoined the FBU recently because they wanted to join the strike over pay issues.

Plymstock firefighters were defiantly in support of the “first responder” scheme, which was introduced in the late 1990s and advocated by the Bain report and other reformers.

Because fire engines can reach heart attack victims before ambulances in rural areas, they were fitted with defibrillators so that the fire crew could administer emergency first aid while waiting for paramedics.

Plymstock fire crews repeatedly said how well the scheme worked. In May last year the White Watch administered oxygen to a 58-year-old suspected of suffering a heart attack for 16 minutes before an ambulance arrived.

They were therefore furious when the FBU’s annual conference voted for all members to oppose the policy and stop participating in it. They argued that it would compromise the response they could give to fires and would lead to cuts in the Ambulance Service.

But, as Clive Sutton, who retired from Plymstock last year, said last night: “When it came down to saving lives, we knew what we had to do.”

Plymstock became a focus for the debate because it was the only full-time fire station in Devon to be part of the scheme.

In Mid and West Wales, six out of 55 stations also decided to defy the FBU and continue with the scheme. Dozens of other fire stations continued quietly to volunteer as “first responders”.

The men on White Watch consider their actions a matter of principle against the stance of the FBU on these life-saving duties. Their resolve will be tested again today, when they report for their second shift.

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