Across the country, and indeed across the world, firefighters are consistently voted the most trusted profession. Most of us have coveted the dressing up costume as a child, enjoyed sitting in the fire engine at community events and wondered at the heroes who run into those places the rest of us run from.

For me, that is a personal awe – as my dad was a firefighter in London for 30 years and I had the joy of regular visits to the fire station, watching them slide down the pole, borrowing the helmet for party games and supporting their sports teams, either running the London Marathon or dragon boating down the Thames.
As a councillor I was delighted to be able to join the Dorset and Wiltshire Fire Authority, and I remain a regular visitor to Fire Stations in the constituency and in the wider BCP area.
The fire service has changed so much in the last 50 years as homes have become safer and smoke detection has improved. Since the early 1980s, fire-related fatalities have fallen by two-thirds but in recent years the number of incidents attended by fire services has increased.

Road accidents, medical and welfare issues – including extractions from homes – alongside flooding, animal rescue and supporting other agency incidents now form significant parts of the role of a service that is undergoing massive staffing pressures and inadequate funding.
The funding comes partly from a central government grant, which has fallen by at least 25% over the last decade, and through a local precept paid with Council Tax.
Currently the fire precept for a band D property in Dorset is just over £80 PER YEAR, a ridiculously small price to pay if you need cutting out of a car wreck, rescuing from your home or need pumping out after a flood.
Firefighter numbers are also down, with the majority of Dorset front-line firefighters being part time (retained) and working another job alongside.
I would like to see more investment in the fire service so that more preventative work can be done – their Safe and Well programme is genuinely life changing for vulnerable people, and the Safe Drive Stay Alive young drivers’ scheme operated through schools is among the hardest hitting programmes I have experienced.

Observing training sessions recently for bariatric extraction and breathing apparatus rescue, it is clear that the technology officers need to use and the skills they apply as well as their intense courage, emotional resilience and physical strength should be rewarded.
I am delighted the Fire Brigade Union have avoided the need to strike for fair pay but the continuing battle that public sector staff face in trying to maintain a decent standard of living whilst costs rise and funding is squeezed cannot continue. As a nation we need to be honest that effective public services across the board need decent, consistent funding and well-paid, highly-trained professionals.