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Firefighters leave restaurant fire to go on strike
Firefighters left the scene of a fire in a fast food restaurant to go on strike.
Four fire engines and 21 firefighters were called to the blaze at a kebab shop in London on Tuesday morning.
Crews from London Fire Brigade tackled the blaze for an hour and then handed the incident over to contingency crews while they went on strike between noon and 2pm.
The crews returned to take over the fire as soon as the strike ended.
The strike was part of an ongoing dispute over pensions and retirement age. Fire Brigades Union members are taking part in daily industrial action between noon and 2pm, and then for a further hour from 11pm until midnight. The current period of strike action will end on Saturday.
The ground floor of the fast food restaurant was badly damaged by the fire. Part of the roof was also damaged.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
Commercial buildings, non-domestic and multi-occupancy premises in England and Wales are already forced to undertake a 'suitable and sufficient' fire risk assessment carried out under the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.
While the overwhelming majority of premises do this, if the assessment is thought to have been carried out to an insufficient extent, the Responsible Person can face an unlimited fine or up to two years in prison.