AS a firefighter's wife I thank Mr G Horne for his support of our firefighters' pay claim (Letters, October 28). Conversely, all Mr K Garside does is belittle and criticise the fire service.
How can he justify his claim that mundane jobs are more dangerous than that of a firefighter?
Yes, firefighters are trained to live - it would be ludicrous to suggest otherwise - but because of the nature of their job, danger is involved and they do attend incidents where they put their lives on the line for others.
We respect and admire our soldiers for their work, but we have spoken to soldiers who were, and still are, paid to fight for our country and not paid to die for it as Mr Garside suggested.
His point about yobs attacking our soldiers should they be called to cover strike action, is also out of order. Our firefighters face this problem regularly.
It is people like Mr Garside who make us sick at heart. Firefighters are human too. They have families to support and many have second jobs to make ends meet and not, as suggested, out of greed. They are asking for a fair day's pay for a fair day's work that reflects their expertise and skill. Skills they would no doubt put into practice without hesitation should any member of the public need their services.
Mrs L Denton,
New Lane,
Acomb Road, York
Updated: 11:32 Monday, November 04, 2002
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