John Prescott today told the Fire Brigades Union to "pick up the telephone and put down the megaphone" as their increasingly bitter pay dispute loomed closer to a strike.
In a statement to MPs in the Commons today, the deputy prime minister called the strike action "completely unnecessary and completely unjustified".
But he admitted that any strike would make the risk of loss of life "higher" and conceded there may be a danger of household insurance not covering fire damage during a firefighters' strike.
Under pressure from his opposite number in the chamber, David Davis, Mr Prescott admitted that household fire insurance might be invalidated, saying: "Discussions [on that] are not fully satisfactory - we will report back."
But he assured MPs that ministers had undertaken "prudent planning" in the face of the threatened strike.
"Our focus has been on taking what steps we can to safeguard life and - so far as possible - protect property, when the normal fire cover is not available."
Arrangements had been made for fire service 999 calls to be redirected and every call would be answered, he told MPs.
According to Mr Prescott there will be 827 Green Goddesses, 331 specialist breathing apparatus rescue teams and 59 rescue equipment support teams in operation during the stirke.
Mr Prescott said the public should continue to use the 999 number during the strike, and that every call would receive a "response."
But he admitted that the military response would be slower, and crews would have less knowledge of local geography.
Mr Prescott said his message to the public was: "Take sensible precautions in your homes to prevent a fire occurring in the first place."
To managers and others in industry, he said: "Work on the basis that your normal activities continue during the strikes. However, the single most important step that you should take is to check that all existing fire safety provisions are in place and fully effective.
"My message to the FBU is - think again. Despite the wide range of measures that we have put in place, there is no doubt that the risk of loss of life and property will be higher when FBU members are refusing to work."
In the statement Mr Prescott said the old pay formula had done a good job, keeping the "industrial peace" for 25 years.
Under that formula, firefighters' pay had risen by 20% since 1997, compared to 19% for the police and teachers, he said.
He denied that the government had intervened in the negotiating process over the summer and insisted that a "reasonable offer" had been made, with the promise of 4% and a new formula.
Mr Prescott noted - but discarded - pleas from both sides of the house for the Bain pay inquiry to be speeded up. It does not report back until after the strikes end in December.
He called on the Fire Brigades Union to provide a "constructive" response to the government's request for clarification of the extent to which they would continue to respond to life-threatening incidents.
Mr Davis condemned the strike plans and the "unsustainable" 40% pay claim, adding: "Now is not the time to plunge back into the dark days of the 1970s, when trade union bosses held the country to ransom and picket lines called the shots".
He also suggested other unions were using safety concerns as "an excuse for what would otherwise be illegal secondary action" and said it would be "unacceptable" if public transport and power stations were forced to halt operations.
Mr Davis called on the deputy prime minister to speed up the current review of firefighters' pay and accused him of dragging his feet over this summer.
Don Foster, the Liberal Democrat who shadows Mr Prescott, called the strike "unecessary, counter-productive and life-threatening", but called on the government to promise to pay any increase recommended by the independent inquiry.
