During Britain's first fire strikes in more than 25 years, the government has fallen back on its rarely-used contingency plan - Operation Fresco.

At the heart of this blueprint is the Green Goddess - a somewhat outdated vehicle which last provided fire cover during the 1977 strike.

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Around 827 'Goddesses' are being provided by the Ministry of Defence and manned by trained army, Navy and RAF members.

But during the eight-day strike that began on Friday more than 120 reserve red fire engines usually used for training will eventually be made available.

Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott has said 27 of the modern appliances are immediately available with a further 100 on offer.

A total of 19,000 troops are on emergency standby in Green Goddesses and the red fire engines, being dubbed Red Goddesses.

They replace some 3,000 fire engines which would be in operation across the country on a normal day.

Specialist teams

The UK's retained - part-time - firefighters are not on strike and should be working as normal, predominantly in rural areas.

Additionally, 2,500 armed forces personnel are providing more than 330 specialist breathing apparatus teams and almost 60 rescue equipment support teams spread out around the country.

Together with around 6,500 administrative, security and command and control staff a total of 19,000 service personnel are involved in providing cover.

The 999 emergency number is still the public's first port of call during the strikes.

Basic cover

The call is taken at the normal control centre, but fire-related emergencies are re-directed, not to fire control rooms but to specially-convened military control centres spread out across the country.

Each call is then considered by a panel, including principal fire officers and MoD officials, who decide how to respond.

Because of the drop in fire cover, the panel have to assess which calls can be answered - and in what order.

The Green Goddesses provides only basic cover, responding to emergencies.

Avoiding fires

Matches out of reach of children Fireguard in front of fires and heaters Properly extinguish cigarettes Don't smoke in bed Don't leave cooking unattended Only one-third fat in chip pan Bonfires away from fences and hedges Make sure candles are stable Fit smoke alarms and test them Source: Rospa

Downing Street's emergencies committee - code-named Cobra - will co-ordinate the government's response to the strike.

It will meet throughout the strike.

Cobra has met on only three previous occasions - during the fuel dispute in 2000, last year's foot-and-mouth epidemic, and following the 11 September atrocities.

The committee can call on any minister or senior civil servant to take part, as well as fire, police and ambulance chiefs, military commanders and the heads of the security and intelligence services MI5 and MI6.

Its name comes from the room in Downing Street where its meetings take place - Cabinet Office Briefing Room A.

It is supported by a permanent Civil Contingencies Secretariat in the Cabinet Office.

It acts as a centre of expertise for emergency planning, produces regular assessments of potential crises and runs exercises to test the authorities' readiness to respond.