Military personnel in Scotland are to be trained on modern fire engines in preparation for the next scheduled firefighters' strike, it has been announced.

Deputy First Minister Jim Wallace said two machines were being made available to the armed forces immediately.

Four more engines will be taken from the Scottish Fire School if an eight-day strike goes ahead as planned next Friday.

Fire crews staged a 48-hour strike

However, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said ministers should be concentrating on resolving the dispute through negotiations.

The first firefighters' strike in 25 years ended at 1800 GMT on Friday when crews went back to work after their 48-hour industrial action.

There were no fire fatalities north of the border during the stoppage.

A number of fire crews did leave their picket lines to attend incidents where people were trapped in buildings.

Six police officers suffered smoke inhalation in one incident in Glasgow after rescuing a woman from the 15th floor of a blazing tower block.

Rescue capability

The fire was extinguished by Army personnel using hand-held extinguishers before the regular fire crews - who stopped their strike more than an hour early - arrived to help dampen down the fire.

Mr Wallace congratulated the armed forces for their work at a meeting of the Scottish Ministerial Group on the Fire Dispute in Edinburgh.

He also outlined "further steps" to improve the military's rescue capability.

Until now armed forces personnel have been using 50-year-old Green Goddess fire tenders.

"I have asked that engines from the Scottish Executive's stock which is used for training at the Scottish Fire School be made available, while not disrupting recruit firefighter training.

Fire facts

Scotland has 4,588 full-time firefighters 2,799 part-time firefighters 1,200 volunteer firefighters 520 fire engines 30 aerial appliances 14 rescue and emergency vehicles 59 other specialist vehicles 109 Green Goddesses are being used in Scotland

"Two machines will be made available immediately to allow military training to begin.

"Others will follow if the next strike goes ahead and the school has to close as a result. This will provide a fleet of up to six machines."

However, John McDonald, FBU executive member for Scotland, said: "It is not red fire engines which put out fires, it is the trained professionals who operate them.

"Ministers should be spending their time and energy on looking at ways of resolving this strike so that firefighters can claim a professional wage."

He added that military personnel had been "under-resourced and under-staffed" during the strike.

"The military have been barely able to cope over the last two days when there has been situations where human life has been threatened," he claimed.