Surrey County Council (SCC) has announced its contingency plan for the county after the Fire Brigades Union confirmed that its firefighters will strike next Wednesday.

The strike will last for four hours, between 12pm and 4pm, on September 25, and will be the first national firefighters’ strike in over a decade.

It has been sparked by a dispute between the FBU and the Government over reforms to firefighters’ pensions, with 80 per cent of the union’s firefighters voting in favour of action in a ballot last month.

SCC announced today that rescue firm Specialist Group International (SGI), based in Dorking, will work alongside frontline firefighters who choose not to strike and on-call firefighters at stations whose staff are not members of the FBU.

The firm will provide crews who have completed the full 17-week firefighters’ training course including fighting a range of fires, wearing breathing apparatus and using specialist equipment to deal with car accidents.

Councillor Kay Hammond, SCC’s cabinet associate for fire and police services, said: "We’ve planned long and hard for times like these and we’ve invested in Surrey’s safety through our deal with SGI. That investment is now proving its worth.

"We’re ready to provide cover during this dispute between the FBU and Government but we will also be looking to residents and businesses to take extra care during this time."

A SCC spokesman said that although SGI and a number of Surrey firefighters will be "working around the clock" there will be fewer fire crews available than normal.

He said: "Therefore the service is asking residents and businesses to take extra care during any industrial action and to check smoke detectors and emergency equipment.

"As well as providing cover during industrial action SGI are also providing specialist rescue to Surrey and are on standby throughout the year to support the fire service with an arsenal of cutting edge equipment and a wealth of expertise."

This includes a helicopter to provide vital intelligence during major incidents; the UK’s first specialist dive team; a fleet of inflatable boats for use in water rescues and during floods; hi-tech side scan sonar and camera equipment for locating missing persons; a fleet of 4×4 vehicles for remote area search and rescue; a world-leading expertise in confined space and collapsed structure rescue; and a specialist rope rescue team for cliff, mast and tower crane rescue.

Peter Faulding, SGI’s chief executive, added: "The SGI team are ready to stand in and protect the residents of Surrey during this industrial action". 

Surrey joined forces with SGI in October last year - a move which was criticised by the FBU which said that SCC should increase its number of firefighters rather than give money to a private firm.

Mr Faulding, who founded the company in 1995, is considered the world’s leading expert in confined space rescue, such as in collapsed buildings. He made headlines when he was asked to perform suffocation tests on a sports holdall during the inquest into the death of former MI6 spy Gareth Williams, who was found naked in a zipped-up bag in his bathtub.