Fire workers: 'We don't want to go on strike. We just want a decent wage'

Blue watch, the 15 men entrusted with the safety of a large chunk of London yesterday, nodded their heads in grim unanimity as one of their number explained why Britain's firemen yesterday voted for their first strike in 25 years.

Greg Pattinson, a firefighter for 24 years, said: "Listen, we don't for one second want to do this. But we can't just be told any more that we do a wonderful job. What we want is a decent wage."

The men of Blue Watch were gathered in a circle, sipping mugs of tea after returning from their last "shout" or 999 call to Wembley Fire Station, north-west London.

According to London Fire Brigade figures, Blue Watch and their 45 colleagues at Wembley last year answered 1,500 emergency calls ranging from house fires to their first call yesterday, a case of a smoking domestic garage. Because it acts as a support for smaller neighbouring stations but does not have those 999 calls added to its statistics, the real number is more like 2,000 – or 5.5 callouts every day.

But according to Wembley's firemen, a different set of statistics tell the real tale of life as a firefighter and the overwhelming frustration and anger which has led them to what they call "our very last resort".

¿ Only one member of Blue Watch lives in the London borough of Brent where the station is based. Unable to afford soaring property prices, the rest live in places including Peterborough, Milton Keynes, Bournemouth and Dorchester. Four live in the Irish Republic.

¿ As a result, every night at least five of the men have to sleep in the fire station regardless of whether they are on night duty. Others prefer a long commute to see their children for an hour each night. One man drives from Cornwall and sleeps in his van in the fire station car park.

Welcome, say Blue Watch, to the British fire service in 2002.

Mr Pattinson, a 42-year-old father of three, who has a law degree achieved while in service, had risen at 5am to leave his Milton Keynes home. His shift starts at 9am but he has to arrive at 7am to avoid traffic jams. With luck, he will be home tonight by 8.45pm. After nearly 25 years' service with the London Fire Brigade, he earns £24,500. He said: "People have to know the truth of how this service is provided and that is because of the sacrifices we have made in 25 years of being steadily underpaid.

"I do this job because I love it, because I and every other firefighter has a strong sense of public duty. But we don't want to be told any more that we are heroes, that we do a wonderful job. We aren't special, we do a job like anyone else but all we want is to do that job for a decent wage."

The men, with an average age of 35 and an average salary of around £22,000, bristled at any suggestion that their 40 per cent pay claim, meaning £30,000 for a full-time qualified firefighter, was excessive.

They pointed out that had they received the same percentage pay increases as government ministers since their last national pay formula was decided in 1977, their average wage would be £34,000.

A 40 per cent increase, they said would only bring them into line with public servants in the police, the health service and schools.

It would also remove the need for some of them to supplement their income by working up to 42 extra hours a week as taxi drivers, lorry drivers and bar staff.

Dave Sinclair, an imposing former Royal Marine and Blue Watch's sub-officer, who has to sleep on his chief officer's floor when he is not at home in Bournemouth, said firefighters were being asked to take on more and more duties with diminishing returns. They make educational visits, carry out domestic and business safety surveys and install free smoke detectors for the elderly.

They are also required to answer any 999 calls within eight minutes and be ready to deal with any incident from a warehouse fire to a multiple pile-up.

Mr Sinclair, 49, said: "We are professionals just like police officers but we don't receive the same status. We don't qualify for low-interest home loans; that's why none of us live in London. We don't earn enough to pay our mortgages, which is why so many of us have second jobs. What was 25 years of frustration has become a very real anger."

Kevin Malone, 39, a firefighter for 14 years who lives in Peterborough because it was the only place he could afford, said: "Do you think we really want to see Green Goddesses on the streets? Of course we don't, we are not militants but that is the measure of how bad things are. We must see this through."