COMPARISONS recently made on TV and radio between the role of professional firefighter and certain other jobs are tenuous to say the least.

By comparing the profession of soldiering to that of firefighter, one is not comparing like with like. Dress it up as one wishes, but the soldier who serves in whatever cause he or she chooses does so on the understanding that he or she may ultimately have to kill a fellow human being. The description of the role of professional firefighter being "the preservation of life and property ..." demonstrates the invalidity of any such comparison.

Whenever it is pointed out that a firefighter's job is dangerous, the high death rate among lorry drivers and within the building industry is quoted. But lorry drivers, and other road users, are among the 3500 people who die on British roads every year because that is a price which this Government, together with the insurance industry and the world of commerce, is willing to pay in today's economic and moral climate. It is a price, furthermore, which Mr Prescott (who tells us that "sanctity of life" is his governing principle) would have firefighters and the public pay through the loss of 10,000 firefighters' jobs.

The modern firefighter is able to call upon, and therefore must be familiar with, the very latest cutting-edge technology while at the same time educating themselves as to the hazards which those technologies present to them each time they respond to an incident of any kind. A pro-active attitude to safety by firefighters and the FBU is born out of years of practical and hard-won experience, and is integral to the service which they provide to the public. It is only through the Fire Brigade Union's resisting Dickensian employers and so-called "modernisation" (a euphemism for the destruction of the public services) that health and safety legislation is now in place throughout the workplace.

Continuous training and up-dating of skills ensures that professional firefighters do not suffer a much higher injury and death rate, the potential costs of which, both economic and social, would inevitably be passed on to the community whom they serve.

The often quoted assertion "for every one recruit who is accepted, 39 people are waiting to join the fire service" is utter nonsense. Reality is that, out of every 40 applicants for the job of firefighter, only one is accepted into training school; such are the strict criteria, the high levels of excellence in terms of superb physical fitness, and mental aptitude, to mention but a few of the qualities required for life in the modern fire service that make the role of professional firefighter so envied and admired around the world. It is in the light of such obvious value for money that I recommend that firefighters should be paid at least as well as police officers.

William Kelly

Darley Street

Farnworth