London 1988

We had a series of experiences over a hectic few months that taught me a lot about tactics but perhaps more about human psychology.

It was the 1980s and in London, it was a transition stage as we were just coming out of the ‘iron-lung’ era where firefighters, who often chose to ‘eat smoke’ as a way of proving they had ‘balls’, were facing the conflicting enforcement of occupational health & safety legislation. For years I had battled against the forceful opinions of those who were either too lazy or too incredibly complacent in their tactical approaches. Those who chose not to wear their SCBA provided a good example. There was also a collection of company commanders (junior officers) who were of the typical ‘reactionary’ belief that SCBA wasn’t needed until it was needed! In fact our procedures were so rigid that in some situations these officers refused outright to allow SCBA to be removed from an engine until ordered. Then one after the other, there were some serious lessons!

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