On Oct. 6, 2010, the Evening Standard reported the London Fire Brigade was "in meltdown" after a union action took almost 100 engines off the run.
The newspaper said:
"A confidential memo passed to the Evening Standard claims that 91 of 169 engines were out of service on 114 occasions on Monday, some for almost 11 hours at a time, due to staff shortages or mechanical defects."
Members of the Fire Brigades Union are "working to rule" in a dispute over new shift patterns.
On Oct. 1, the West End EXTRA reported: "Fire crews from Knightsbridge had to battle their way through West End traffic to fight a serious blaze in Great Portland Street" because the Euston station didn't have the required staffing.A firefighter from the Euston station said: "Because of the dispute, we didn’t have the cover we needed at Euston to go out and tackle this blaze."
In an Oct. 6 dispatch, The Press Association reported Deputy Fire Commissioner Rita Dexter said: "The current work to rule action is causing some disruption, caused by temporary unavailability of staff and vehicles as we move them around to ensure cover."
