Firefighters from across the country will attend the funeral today of a colleague from Suffolk who died during a training exercise in Hertfordshire.
Alan Soards, who was 38, was based at Lowestoft Fire Station. He was taken ill during an exercise at the Lee Valley white water centre.
Fellow fire fighters will act as pallbearers and his coffin will be carried on the back of a turntable ladder to a church in Gorleston-on-Sea.
The Fire Brigades' Union has confirmed this afternoon that a strike will go ahead tomorrow.
The one hour strike will start at four and five o'clock in the morning. But normal services will resume for the Olympic Torch Relay in the area later in the morning.
Talks to reach a settlement between fire chiefs and unions in Essex have failed.
The conciliation service Acas met with both sides yesterday over threats of strike action over changes to working practices. At the moment the first walk out will take place on Thursday.
A team from the concilitaion service Acas will meet with Essex fire bosses and unions today to try and stop a series of strikes.
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