An experienced firefighter says he’s proud of his job and the public service he provides. Despite years of pay freezes, it is good to have a relatively secure job that you are committed to rather than solely going to work for money or out of desperation. But, he says, managers have become alert to any cause that might get firefighters dismissed on medical grounds, so he knows he is less secure than in the past. He says, “I can’t see where we can make any more cuts in the service, but then I look at the cuts they are trying to impose, and I can see that they are thinking the unthinkable. People don’t realise that we are already running engines with four firefighters instead of five. That means in critical situations, lives are put at risk, both the public’s and the firefighters’.”