Saving today's lives. Honouring yesterday's dead

North West red plaque unveiling Cyril Dutton

The Firefighters 100 Lottery makes possible the FBU’s red plaques commemorating firefighters who have died in the line of duty and its DECON campaign to save lives in the future

Dundee firefighters celebrated the lives of two of their own – when red plaques were unveiled in April for the firefighters who died in the line of duty more than 60 years ago.

On 13 April, 1962, well respected divisional commander John Jamieson Buist lost his life when tackling a huge blaze at a jute factory.

He became trapped under two tonnes of jute – an ultra-strong plant fibre and traditional Dundee industry – when a massive tier of bales collapsed.

Two months later, firefighter William Carnegie fell 30 feet when a roof ledge in a burning tenement block gave way. He died of head injuries within a month.

Two red plaques honouring the men were unveiled with great dignity in the city on the sixty- first anniversary of John Jamieson Buist’s death.

Since the union’s centenary, 57 distinctive FBU red plaques have been unveiled at fire stations and other locations across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, honouring firefighters who lost their lives in the line of duty.

And since 2020, the union’s DECON campaign, backed up by rigorous research, has been working to help save the lives of today’s firefighters through reducing exposure to cancer causing toxins.

GROUND-BREAKING

Both the red plaque project and the DECON campaign are ground-breaking initiatives for the union. And neither would be possible without support from the Firefighters 100 Lottery fund.

Nearly £955,000 has been raised since the lottery started – close on £133,000 of it this year.

The bulk of the money goes to fund red plaques and DECON, but other worthy causes also benefit.

This year, £15,000 was donated to Medical Aid for Palestinians, £10,000 to the Turkey-Syria Earthquake Appeal and £10,000 to War on Want. And the fund continues to support research on Grenfell.

Riccardo la Torre, FBU national officer, champions the crucial role the lottery is playing in improving firefighter safety.

“Thanks to the Firefighters 100 Lottery fund,” he said, “we have made huge steps forward in the FBU DECON campaign to protect firefighters from occupational cancers.’’

But there is no room for complacency.

“We still have lots to do as we find ourselves decades behind other parts of the global fire sector on this.

“None of the advances we have made already would have been possible without the Firefighters 100 Lottery and its supporters.

“To continue this lifesaving work we all need to get behind the lottery and help it continue to grow”.

In 2023, 18 red plaques were unveiled – each celebrating a life cut short too soon.

Auxiliary firefighter Cyril Dutton is among them – one of many FBU members to die on the home front during the Second World War.

On 29 November, 1940, he was off duty in Chester, strolling in a park with his wife, when he heard colleagues race past in a fire engine on their way to a bombing raid, he grabbed his kit and shot off to help.

Tragically, he was hit by falling masonry, trapped in a burning building. Cyril died aged just 25. His coffin was borne on a fire engine and 150 colleagues from seven brigades formed a guard of honour.

Kent firefighter Neville Stocker was months away from retirement when he lost his life in August 1990 as huge flames ripped through a ten-acre cornfield in scorching weather.

A SEA OF FIRE

It became a “sea of fire within seconds”, according to the owner of a house perilously close by. A sudden gust of wind brought tragedy – cutting off the Ashford fire pump, whose crew members were trying to battle the spreading blaze amid intense heat and smoke.

Neville became disorientated. He fell behind the vehicle, dying from his injuries and the effects of smoke inhalation.

Norman Nolan was just 28 when he lost his life on October 22, 1971, helping to tackle a huge blaze at Texas Mill in Ashton-under-Lyne.

Norman was standing on a fire escape when a part of the building collapsed. He was buried under rubble. Conditions were so treacherous that his body could not be recovered for two days.

Red plaques are helping to ensure that those who lost their lives protecting fellow citizens are not forgotten. By buying Firefighters 100 Lottery tickets, members honour their memory – and help bankroll, amongst other good causes, the work around DECON.

The campaign is already starting to make working life safer for today’s firefighters, by publicising safety procedures and encouraging those exposed to potentially toxic fumes to get tested.

The name of the lottery says it all. For regardless of who wins Firefighters 100 lottery prizes, it is surely frontline firefighters who stand to gain most if their health is better protected every time they go “out on a shout” – never knowing what is in store.