My local union received this message from a firefighter asking for help in the strike:

Am I worth £30,000? I have been taught skills to save life, prolong life and know when to walk away when there is no life left. I have taken courses to fight fire from within, above and below. I can cut a car apart in minutes and can educate your sons and daughters to save their own lives.

No matter what the emergency, I am part of a team that always comes when you call. I run in when all my instincts tell me to run away. I have faced death in cars with petrol pouring over me while the engine was ticking with the heat. I have laid on my back inside a house fire and watched the flames roar across the ceiling above me. I have climbed and I have crawled to save life and I have stood and wept while we buried a fellow firefighter.

I have been the target of yobs throwing stones and punches at me while I do my job. I have been the first to intercept a parent who knows their son is in the car we are cutting up and I know he is dead. I have served my time, damaged by body and seen things I hope you never will. I have never said "No, I'm more important than them," and walked away.

Am I worth £30,000? Maybe your answer is no. But when that drunk smashes into your car, the candle burns too low or your child needs help, you will find I am worth every last penny. To all those who deride the firefighters' claim for fair play: Shame on you.

-Jay Curson, (firefighter for 19 years) Broomfield Drive, Portslade