As the time grows ever nearer, my thoughts like those of my fellow firefighters must go out to the families of the 343 lost nearly 10 years ago.

Would we do the same if it happened here, would we now hesitate knowing what could happen and what we could loose. I think the answer is known the us that do this job, we would go in and maybe its not about the thousands that died on that day.

It about the tens of thousands that were saved by men and women willing to take a risk to help people they don't know and would never see again.

They paid the ultimate price and so many stand around the world tonight saying 'sleep tight for I am watching over your family as they sleep'

Well I know I said I'd post but didn't mention how often, I don't class myself in the same vein as some writers and never class myself as funny (loud indeed but not humorous).

So my job and that of my brothers (& sisters) is ever changing and for that I am grateful for the chance to make fast decisions that will change a person, it's not always life changing and there is a difference between the two. Talking to kids and their parents and informing them of smoke alarms isn't the glamorous side of that job, most of us don't have a problem with this. They do however have a problem with the way 'they' make it out as one of the reasons to change our shifts. As I write I can say since the new shifts I haven't done ONE smoke alarm between 6pm and 8pm, so someone was mistaken and the hundreds of families waiting for those brave guys and gals to turn up and make their homes safer just decided not to have it done or the taxi taking fat cats lied.

It's alright though because we took the threats and the change of shifts and still turn out the doors as we have always done, still do our job the best we can. The problem now is we have no respect for the senior people (I won't dignify using the word officer) we slag them off behind their back, don't respect their decisions and respect them as firefighters even less.

Will it change? I can't see it just yet when they try to put the same sort of people as themselves into higher and higher positions

Pre Arrange Overtime, well that's a whole story in itself............................................

This is something I thought about doing when the London firefighter strike started and never got round to it, now the riots have calmed down (for now) I've decided to get off my butt and begin.

So where to start, the beginning is always expected and all the good films and books start with a prologue to set the scene.

I am a full time fireman with the London Fire Brigade and have been for some years and love the job I do, even with the quotas and cold calling I still have the drive to get out and help 'the public'

You'll come to see that I'll try very hard to conceal my real identity for one reason, when you post things on social networking sites that do not adhere to the norm and lies of the higher echelon of the brigade they have a real nasty way of showing their utter contempt of that person. They bully and harass under the guise of discipline and inflict random punishments, these are so one sided that they'd even give the Army's kangaroo court system of justice a run for its money.

So there is the start, don't expect too much to begin with and don't expect any sort of intellectual writer either. I am just a man doing a job he loves and trying to protect mine and other firefighters future.