Fire and Tears

This blog entry is dedicated to the brave firefighters who have been tackling the recent warehouse blaze at Atherstone... and the grievous aftermath that has followed. One fireman has died and three others remain missing after over 24 hours. Two of the four come from my hometown... which is understandably in a state of some shock. Alcester's firefighters are retained and not "full time".

If the worst case scenario proves to be reality, this will have been the worst loss of life in the fire service for over thirty years. It is a testimony to the skill, teamwork and dedication of our fire and rescue teams, that this figure has remained so low for so long; especially when you consider the quantity and frequency of call outs they receive... and the variety of hard situations they willingly put themselves into and jeopardise themselves on our behalf. None of this can be much comfort to the families, friends or colleagues of those men today; however it is important we recognise those sacrifices... and acknowledge the cost when it is high.

Police have described the fire as "suspicious" and it is being treated as an arson attack. An early witness report has suggested a possible suspect fled from amongst bushes not far from the scene. Search teams have been sent in...but the building is still extremely unstable and has not yet finished collapsing. It may take up to 36 hours to clear the scene and gather evidence... and more importantly to discover what happened to the other three firefighters (and for that matter anyone else who may possibly be in there).

My thoughts and prayers go out to those who are suffering as a consequence of the tragic events. The image below comes from one of the many tributes to the emergency services in the wake of 9/11. However, I think it is just as appropriate for this smaller local tragedy. We all need to support and pray for those who are prepared to risk their lives for us.