A dozen of the soldiers who manned the Green Goddesses around West Yorkshire during the last strike by firefighters are now heading out to the Gulf.

The men, from the Royal Logistics Corps, have been called up for duty as the threat of action in Iraq looms.

Troops were on duty until 9am today providing fire cover for people around the Bradford district as firefighters staged a 24-hour strike.

Belle Vue barracks in Manningham - believed to be the busiest station in the county with 115 call-outs during the last eight-day strike - has received an extra red engine and a training appliance as well as two Goddesses.

Major Matthew Walton-Knight, commanding officer, confirmed that some of the soldiers with the air assault regiment had left for the Gulf.

"Some of the men I had here last time have gone to Iraq but none from my own unit - 22nd Regiment."

"Everyone is committed to Op Fresco (code name for the fire cover) unless they have a very specialist qualification and will be taken away for service in Iraq - and at the moment I can only think of three more soldiers who may be called to the Gulf."

Some 128 military personnel made the six-hour coach journey from Wiltshire to return to Bradford and have trained on the red engine.

Sergeant David Barrow, 30, crew commander of the red appliance, said the equipment would make the job easier.

"It has got two side high pressure hoses which are a lot easier to control because you can shut it on and off," he said.

"It is fairly fast but we are still keeping to the speed limit we had before - so that's no more than 30 miles an hour."

Sapper Mark Coulson, 20, pictured, who drives the red engine, said the power steering made it easier to drive and it had a lower centre of gravity than the Green Goddesses which had been known to topple over.

Major Walton-Knight said the red goddess would be used in high priority fires where human life was at risk.

In between this strike and the 48-hour walkouts due to start next Tuesday and Friday, the crews - which include seven people from the Royal Air Force and one from the Royal Navy - will return back to their regiment base in Tidworth.

"There appears to be more disruption but from our perspective we will still be here over the strike period," said Major Walton-Knight.

"Morale is surprisingly very high," he said.

lGreen and red goddesses from Bradford, Yeadon and Keighley were called out 20 times from 9am yesterday. Ten were false alarms. A fire in Beechwood House on Huddersfield Road, Wyke was put out at 2pm yesterday with no injuries. The Army also attended a road traffic accident at Bolton Abbey. The rest were minor incidents such as car, shed or dustbin fires.