firemen strike of 1977

 

 

The first ever national strike undertaken by firefighters, lasted nine weeks from November 1977 to January 1978. Police had received a substantial pay rise while firefighters had seen years of falling real wages, creating a low pay industry. Many firefighters had to resort to claiming state benefits.

 Last night in the pub I was talking to a friend who I grew up with in the village and specifically talking about the fire was in the street in the 1970s the Athens I can remember waking up and hearing glass breaking and I got out to bed went outside and I could see there was a fire wasn't middle of the night so I could the place was lit up and I went into I walked into the street and I could see the fire shooting across the road you couldn't walk up the street because the fire  flame just covered the whole street it blocked the whole street

My mother tried to go into the house to save the person who was in the house but she couldn't she was repelled back by the heats and so did the person next door tried to go in there but he was repelled to the lady who lived in the house which burns was brought out in a black bag burnt to a cinder nearly some electric fire have fallen over in the house the house was burnt to a shell the fire brigade came to put it out this fire

This fire took place in 1977 and there was a fireman strike on the strike lasted 9 weeks I was talking to somebody a while ago who wasn't who was in the the fire service at the time and according to him before they went and put out a fail someone would have to go and inspect the fire to see if it was worth breaking the strike which is obviously not a very good way of operating this is what happened with a fire in the village somebody came down and then then decided they would send a fire engine well obviously in the mean time to have fire was getting worse it was not gonna hang around for them to make a decision whether to put it out or not I'm sure it must have been quite stressful to operate under those circumstances and that's why the strike only lasted 9 weeks

I am sure the fireman did not like operating under those circumstances and they must have been desperate really desperate to go on strike in the first place something must have snapped for them to be driven to such a situation where they knew people might die 

 My father got very upset with firmen as they took so long obviously, I don't think they could have saved the life of the lady who died but apparently my friend stuggled to walk passed the house for ages due to the fire and which if the fire brigade had got there sooner would not have been so big and maybe the house would not have been gutted time is impoortant in these situations