New Year’s Eve was a busy night for back-up fire crews during a six-hour firefighters’ strike.

There were 18 call-outs across West Yorkshire during the walk-out, which included rescuing a casualty from a car crash in Leeds Road, Bradford, and visiting a home in Ravenscliffe where a firework had fallen through a window.

The strike, one of a series taken in an ongoing row over pensions, ran from 6.30pm on New Year’s Eve to 12.30am today.

The fire service manned 24 of its 54 fire engines across West Yorkshire, staffed by those who weren’t striking and specially-recruited ‘community response operatives’ who have been given three weeks’ training.

At 6.28pm, crews were called to a small fire in a lorry’s engine at commercial premises in Grangefield Industrial Estate, Pudsey.

The next calls were at 7.01pm, to a large outdoor rubbish fire in Bowling Back Lane, Bradford, and 7.27pm, to a fire at a play area in Liversedge.

At 7.51pm, the back-up staff quelled a blaze in the open in Manningham, Bradford.

A few minutes later, there was a call-out to Yeadon, Leeds, which turned out to be a false alarm caused by cooking fumes.

One call was not classed as a fire, but as a ‘special service call’. This was in Brighouse, where a leak in a home was affecting the internal electrics.

And at 9.25pm, staff were called to a crash between two cars in Leeds Road, Bradford. One person had to be freed from a vehicle and was taken to hospital.

A fire service spokesman said while none of the incidents were classed as major, the contingency crews “experienced a late flurry of calls in the last hour of the strike”, as the county celebrated the start of the new year.

These included a call-out to Blenheim Road, Manningham, Bradford, which turned out to be a false alarm caused by cooking setting off a fire alarm, and a call-out to Ranelagh Avenue, Ravenscliffe, where a firework had gone through the window of a house. There was no fire by the time crews arrived, but the property had become smoke-logged.

Last night West Yorkshire Chief Fire Officer Simon Pilling said: “Fortunately tonight has passed without major incident. However, crews have attended a total of 18 incidents, which is around average for this period.

“We would like to thank the public for taking heed of our advice and staying safe during the period of reduced cover.”

The next strike is anticipated this Friday from 6.30am to 8.30am.