THE FIREFIGHTERS STORY
I am glad the strike has been called off,
and we’ll be back at where we belong, running fire engines
on Wednesday, at least for another 2 weeks.I have been a
firefighter for 20 years now, 16 of them serving on Red Watch in
Sheffield Central, and my motivation in life is the same now as
when I first started in the Fire Service – to help people
and in some small way to make a difference to the community in
which I serve.
During my time I think I have succeeded in this goal.I have seen
and dealt with situations which ordinary people can scarcely
imagine.I have attended the Hillsborough Disaster in 1989, where
I attempted resuscitation on 6 people, whilst their family and
friends stood by pleading with me to perform some sort of
miracle.
I have been to a Human Torch incident, cut people out of the
mangled wreckage of a car, performed emergency resuscitations on
a casualty pulled out of a fire, and consoled the relatives of
fire and RTA victims.
It has not always been tragedies that my colleagues and I have
attended, we have saved many lives over the years and from that
we have a great deal of pride and satisfaction, not to mention
many grateful survivors.This however, does not pay the bills and
whilst my friends in other jobs have seen a steady rise in their
incomes, mine has remained little more than my starting salary.
Politicians, the right-wing press, and the
media in general have been waging a vicious propaganda war
against us throughout the duration of this dispute.They quote
statistics and half truths, all of which combine to paint
firefighters in a poor light.Spin doctors have orchestrated a
campaign of mis-information, whilst the alternative view has
either been omitted from arguments, or heavily edited to mislead
the public.
One example - The comparison of our pay with the Army (£21,500 -
£12,00), these figures obviously do not compare like for like.I
know this for a fact because one of my colleagues has a son fire-
fighting for the Army, the monthly take home pay is (£1150
firefighter) – (£1500 Army firefighter).
Another comparison with Police pay gave the impression that
firefighter’s salary was higher than that of Police
Officers. What these statistics failed to tell you is that
the Police get annual increments, so that after 15 years of
service a Police Officers will earn £30,000, whilst firefighters
with the same amount of service earn £21,500.So whilst the
Government and press continue to be economical with the truth,
the wrong impression is left in the public’s mind.
Another example – The continual
use of the word ‘Modernisation’.We now all know what
the Government means by this – it means getting a ‘cheaper’
Fire Service, with less firefighters employed – particularly
during the night when fewer firefighters will be on duty
(statistics show that more lives are saved during the night as
the results of house fires).The use of this word ‘Modernisation’
even if we know what their agenda is, gives the impression that
we are not currently modern.
This could not be further from the truth – we have
constantly modernised the Fire Service over the 20 years of my
service.The number of serving firefighters has drastically been
cut over the years.Planned recruitments have been
cancelled. We receive constant training in new modern
equipment and working practices.
Our job description has evolved over the years from largely
responding to fires to the present situation where the emphasis
is to educate people on fire safety and the prevention of fires.
Equality has actively been pursed for over the past 10 years, the
numbers of ethnic minority and female firefighters in the service
is steadily rising.
I wonder why I have to write this letter to justify my
existence.I cannot believe the avalanche of vicious
mis-information and innuendo that has come our way.
What I can say is that I know that my colleagues and I do a
worthwhile job, even if we are undervalued and underappreciated
by the Government and Media.
When I go home after work I have a clear conscience, knowing I
have served my community.How many Politicians, Journalists,
Bankers, Solicitors, etc will be able to honestly say they make a
difference to anything other than their own pockets?
By David Sweetman
Red Watch
Central Fire and Rescue Service
South Yorkshire