London Fire Commissioner Ron Dobson said:
“The large fire in Dagenham is on-going and has been declared a major incident.
“We have issued a recall notice and are asking striking Fire Brigades Union members in London to carry on working.
“The FBU have told firefighters not to follow the recall notice. They claim the recall is not valid because there is no risk to life. There is no reference to risk of life in the agreed protocols to implement a major incident.
"A major incident can and has been implemented because of the size of this fire and the resources needed to deal with it. By not responding to the recall it is the FBU that is in breach of the agreement.”
The cause of this fire is not known at this time.
The London Emergency Services Liaison Panel (LESLP) major incident Procedure Manual clearly states that a major incident can be declared in the event of large scale combined resources of Police, London Fire Brigade and London Ambulance Service.
The does not state that a major incident can only be called because of risk to life.