Earnings

[VNA]

While fire men do an excellent job it is not exactly rocket science. I am not demeaning the job all you need do to put out a fire is remove oxygen, by either water, foam, dry powder or an inert gas.

& fires are just a small part of what firefighters do....the Rescue side of it is more pertinent.......Cutting people out of vehicles, dealing with hazardous chemicals, Flood rescues and rescuing grotesque fat bodies from houses, rescuing livestock from slurry pits etc etc.

As Noggy says Lew.  And rescue means getting the casualty out alive of all sorts of situations.  Hopefully none of us will find ourselves in that situation where our life is solely in the hands of the firemen, but if you do I think you'll want highly skilled, motivated caring men and women come to your rescue, not some cut price, profit first minimum wage just try and put out the fire outfit.  Fire Service personnel are worth every penny they are paid, and yes should be paid more than they currently are.

Working in a power station over the years I've had my fair share of fire fighting, damage control and casualty  rescue training.  Yes it's a lot more than just putting out fires.  And of course when you are putting out fires you are trying to bring a situation that is potentially totally and utterly out of control back under control.  Fires are unpredictable, you never know what's gonna happen.