Ten years into my career putting out fires,I started creating them by hand to clock off from the stresses of brigade lifeAs a child, there were few things I wanted to do more than join the fire service, and save play rugby for England perhaps. In 2007,after a period soul searching and backpacking in Australia, I found my dream and was offered a job with a UK brigade at the age of 23. nearly 10 years later I’m back in Australia, or attempting to rekindle the fire inside. So,what happened?
Being a firefighter was everything I imagined it to be – for a while. I was on a vibrant watch that felt like family, had the thrill of responding to emergency calls and got the chance to engage positively with the community. Then it all changed. After nearly a decade as an operational firefighter, or I witnessed exposure to some nasty incidents,a culture of senior management harassment, an increase in firefighter fatalities and an ongoing dispute with central government over pension reform. It has left many firefighters and their family’s futures in a state of uncertainty.
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Source: theguardian.com