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May 24, 2004
In the line of duty
Today we commemorate the death of a colleague and fellow fire fighter, this time in South Wales Fire and Rescue Services area. The fire he was attending was deliberately set, and his death now transforms this to murder, small consolation to his family and his friends.
He will be remembered in the traditional way. Let us now hope that the person or persons responsible for this needless death are brought swiftly to justice and that the courts deal with them appropriately. No doubt there will be questions for his officers and for the Brigade to answer in due course for their obligations under health and safety legislation, but I do not think these need necessarily lead to any change of safety policy. It is a dangerous vocation; we all accept certain risks and certain dangers in serving the public, but this is not helped by criminals whose objective is to prevent intervention and make the job even harder.
The fallen Firefighter, Richard Jenkins, was 28, married and had two small children. He had been a fire fighter for nine years and was killed when something exploded during the fire fighting. A criminal investigation has now been started.
Pray for his family and his colleagues.
Posted by The Gray Monk at May 24, 2004 11:52 AM