Left or Right. Live or Die.

When they go out in it, there is no guarantee they will return in it

I am sorry but I must write this article and so if you think you are not up to an article on how easy it is to die as a firefighter, then please read no further.

A simple choice, turn left or right.  One way and you will  save a life and you become a local hero, and the other way will see you plunge to your death and die in flames. 

The following is not about the tragic deaths of Stephen Griffin and his colleague Kevin Lane, this story is about two men from the same station who had a choice to make.  Left or right.

Answering "the shout", Blaina Fire Engine arrived first at the scene of the fire and were told that there was just one person inside and with smoke pouring from the building making visibility inside the property impossible, two of our men went in numbered as one and two.

Climbing the stairs and groping their way along the sides of the wall they came to an open door of a room.  Now normally the search of a smoke filled room starts by going right but on this occasion, one, whose decision it usually is, asked two, which way he thought they should go.

Left or Right?

For some reason, two said that they should go left for a change, well they did, they found the person, lifted him from the floor, threw him over the shoulders (not standard method) of one and exited the burning building.

The firefighters were local heroes for a day or two but the fire was soon forgotten and so were their actions that day.

But what if they had turned right?

Then there would have been three deaths that day and another two of Blaina's Best would have had their names added to the plague that honours their fallen brothers in the fire station, for it was later discovered that the floor on the right side of the compartment had collapsed into the fire below, and in the impenetrable smoke, they would have fallen to their deaths along with the man they were rescuing.

See how easy it is to die if you are a firefighter.

Left or right?  Life or Death?

I just cannot believe how our men are carrying on, with the shameful threat of losing the jobs they feel honour bound to do, threatened by men who care more about money, than they do about lives and communities.