Fire Strike: Saturday 19 October [Update: No there won't]

There will be a second national firefighters strike on Saturday 19 October from 6.30pm to 11.30pm.

Update Friday PM: the strike has been called off.

This is a national dispute between the union and the Government over pension arrangements, Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) are not involved in those negotiations, but the strike will affect all fire and rescue services in England and Wales.

KFRS will be locating working fire crews around the county to provide the best emergency cover possible. 999 calls will still be answered. However they will not be operating at their normal level so the public are asked to not call unless it is an emergency and to be aware that they may not be able to deal with non-emergencies eg someone locked out.

Everyone can help by taking few extra precautions during the strike and passing this message onto friends, family and neighbours:

Five minute safety checklist

• Many KFRS calls are to rescue people from road traffic accidents - please take extra care on the road during the strike
• Before you go to out, or to bed, on Saturday evening unplug unused electrical items, make sure no sockets are overloaded and test your smoke alarms
• Unattended cooking is the largest cause of home fires so please don't leave cooking unattended, especially if you come home from a night out: cooking fires and alcohol.
• Businesses need to make extra safety checks too - details here

Full details on www.kent.fire-uk.org