The move followed a furious round of contacts between the TUC, the firemen's leaders, Mr Prescott and Professor Sir George Bain, the head of the independent inquiry into the future of the fire service.
The talks will cover pay and the emergency cover to be provided in a strike, but are likely to move to the Fire Brigades Union's unwillingness to cooperate with the Bain inquiry, one of the main stumbling blocks to a settlement .
Andy Gilchrist, the FBU general secretary, last night reiterated his union's lack of confidence in the Bain inquiry, which it has boycotted, and said the issue remained solely one of low pay.
The FBU executive, strengthened by a near nine-to-one vote for strikes by the UK's 52,000 firefighters, is expected to reconvene today so that Mr Gilchrist can report back on the discussions.
Yesterday's talks, conducted over the telephone, offered the first real prospect of avoiding strikes due to begin at 9am next Tuesday following a war of words in which Downing Street accused the union of "Scargillism" and Mr Gilchrist complained that No.10 was seeking to "blackmail" firefighters.
Mr Gilchrist said last night: "We now have five very valuable days to prevent a very serious dispute. We have a legitimate right to negotiate with the government and our fire service employers. I think the government should now use the five days available and understand that."
A senior figure involved in the discussions said: "There are clearly ministers in government, Prescott in particular, who would like to still find some way out of this."
