AS a child, Joanne Urmston had trouble sleeping because she was terrified her father would not come home from work.

Hardly a night passed when she did not lie awake wondering what dangers he was facing.

She was all too aware that he confronted death on a regular basis ignoring the dangers of being trapped or suffocated by toxic fumes in his attempts to rescue others.

Her insomnia was a direct result of her father's job...

He is a firefighter.

This week she is supporting her father and other firefighters who are striking for better pay, and has even joined them on the picket line.

And she wants people to know what it is like having a firefighter in the family.

Joanne, now aged 22, said: "When my dad went out to work I didn't know if he would be coming back. Even now -- when I am at my parent's home and his bleeper goes off -- it still gets to me. I always tell my dad that I love him before he goes to work. It is upsetting."

Joanne's 47-year-old father Philip started work as a part-time firefighter in 1979. He became a full time firefighter in 1984 and he has been stationed at Horwich Fire Station since 1989.

Even though his years of service have made him an extremely experienced firefighter his family are angry that his salary has not risen accordingly.

Because he works on a day shift at Horwich he is "bleeped" at home if he is needed to attend a night time incident. This means his family always knows when he is going on a job. If it is a big incident he can be away for hours - during which time his family is left watching the clock ticking, not knowing what is happening.

Philip, who has two other daughters Karen, aged 24 and Lisa, aged 16, said his job had given him a different perspective on family life.

He said: "In this job you realise that life is one of those things that can be taken away from you at any moment. It teaches you life is precious. Whenever I had been at a road traffic accident or fire that had involved children I would come home and hug my own kids. Or when my parents were alive, and I had been to a fire involving elderly people, I would pop round to their house."

There has also been incidents where Philip has had to rescue children who attended the same school as his own children.

Karen added that she remembers waking up in the middle of the night finding her father holding her hand, because he had fought a blaze at a house where a child had died.

She said: "When I was 12 I remember seeing flames coming out of a building and feeling sick because I knew my father would have to go in there.

"I know people are worried about what might happen to them during the strike but we worry every time our father goes out to work."

She added: "They deserve a pay rise, they deserve every penny."

Joanne and Karen both think of their father as a hero and despite their anxiety they are incredibly proud of what he does.

The Government said increasing firefighter's pay by 40 per cent would cripple the economy. It has offered a 11.3 per cent rise which would be phased in over two years.

Talks to avert the second planned strike, to last for eight days starting this Friday, are continuing.