Our Interview With Phil Castleton, Leading Fireman, Birmingham England.

Q. Do you find your job adventurous? if so, what makes it adventurous?

A. Yes I do find my job adventurous, every day is an adventure as we say, every day is different, we just do not know what will happen, it might be a small pot on the stove or a Terrorist bomb going off. It's the variety of the job and the fact that sometimes we are pushed to our limits that makes it the most adventurous of jobs.

Q. When you are going to fight a fire are you often scared or afraid?

A. Yes, I am often scared, when you enter a building that's on fire you can't help notice that the normal people are running the other way. It's the fear of the unknown that's scary, so much can go wrong but with our confidence in our tactics, training, our equipment and we are never alone-we get over the fear. If my crew consists of probies then I am on extra alert as they don't have the depth of experience I have soaked up. BUT that doesn't mean I stop learning. After 23 years in the job, instead of using the term scared I would prefer to use the term concerned. Besides, you can only die once!

Q.What do you enjoy most about your job?

A. I enjoy everything apart from when we have fatalities and bad injuries. We take it personal when we lose some one to the Red Devil. We also are 'Brothers' to each other and we live and play hard. They say that Firemen grow old but never grow up. Firefighters are the same the world over, when we meet-there is an instant understanding, it's the greatest club in the world.

Q. What kind of education and or training did you have to complete to become a fire fighter?

A. It's a 'people job', we help people not just in fires but everything when they have got themselves in a pickle .We treat everybody the same taking no notice of the color of the skin, creed or religion. We are strictly neutral and it will always remain so.We are sometimes the only white guys in a colored neighborhood but they love us because of the way we are. (that's nice). The premier qualification is that you must be born with common sense. Some people who are academically brilliant have loads of degrees but just seem to have two left hands. When we join the FD we have a 16 week intense training course, this teaches you the basics. On being posted to a firehouse a probie has to spend 18 months learning on the job, taking tests and earning qualifications for the job. Then they are classed as unqualified firefighters. Further exams, practical and theory are taken at 2 yrs ,3 yrs.and at 4 years. Then they are qualified!! But, they never stop learning. On a day shift we do at least 1 1/2 hours practical training and have a lecture on firemanship. On every night shift we do 1 hour practical and are supposed to have a lecture. If we go out to fire the officers have to make up for the lost time-----somehow. Our Chiefs think there are 30 hours in each day!

Q. Do you ever wonder why you became a fire fighter and just want to quit your job?

A. This is a difficult one. Yes, when you are stuck in a fire and the red devil is winning, the heat and smoke are killing you and the building is collapsing around your ears then you think--Why did I join? But we never give in, we have to get to the trapped victims and put the fire out. The other times are when you are recovering the dead and picking up body parts.. The worst time is when we have dead children. Not so long ago we had a 6 day old baby on fire in the back garden of a house which was also on fire. One probie cracked up and resigned from the job, myself and other old hands cried real tears in desperation and pity for this young infant. It affected us all, especially those of us who are Dad's. I apologize for being so graphic but it's a very cruel world out there and we see things that make us question sometimes if there is really a God up there.

Q.Does you job often interfere with your personal life in ways that you wished that it didn't?

A. Losing victims I think I have dealt with, but as far as interfering with family life you had better ask my wife and kids. Yeah, it has and always will. I have been home for only 3 Christmases out of 23. When your kids are young and still believe in Santa Claus the best time is seeing them open their presents! I missed so much of that! When we come off duty we are sometimes dead beat and it's difficult to have quality time with them when all you want to do is get horizontal and sleep. We feel so bad that even our skin feels that it doesn't belong to us. Firefighters and their families get used to the life and adapt, we make up for it when we can. My kids still love me as much as I love them so I hope that I was a good Dad to them.

Q. Are there any downfalls to your job?

A. Downfalls, well I have read back and I think you can pick out the downfalls with the victims etc. The other downfalls are the paycheck. Compared to my American Brothers we are in the minor leagues with that and we can't exist on love for the job alone, you kids are expensive! The Politicians on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean are bent on cutting back the Fire Department. When we are at home we are also members of the neighborhood and deserve good Fire cover. We have fire engines that have 6 seats for firefighters but are lucky to have only 4 on duty for each rig. This makes working fires very difficult and dangerous. What they miss is the reality of our job, can you hold your breath for more than 2 minutes (I can't) well with cutbacks fewer companies have fewer firefighters and have longer distances to get to their customers. They will never learn. On a sad note, I have lost 4 good friends killed on duty, two of the guys I went to school with.

Q. Have you ever been injured on the job?

A. Do you want to see my scars? I'm only kidding with you. Yes, I have had all the usual cuts, minor burns and scalds, bruises, pulled muscles and teeth knocked out. My back is a pig in the winter months and as I'm getting old I suffer from rheumatism more than most 40 year olds as I work in extremes of temperatures and get wet a lot. I have had my hands burnt so now I can't stand heat without my firefighting gloves on. It gets me out of washing the dishes as the water needed is too hot ( that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it ) Most of these injuries I picked up were in the early days when our firefighting gear was, to say the least in need of improvement. Today we have very good gear and the injuries are less and less. But as we firefighters are very superstitious! I'm going to knock on wood at this stage. Firefighting is the most dangerous peace time occupation in the world and that's from official statistics. When I was in NYC last I was told that we have a life expectancy of 7 years after we retire (gulp)!

Q. What are the main differences between America's Fire Departments and England's?

A. This is the most difficult one because it would take so long. People write books about it. I have based the differences on the big cities, as in England we only have full time paid Brigades with some part time out in the rural areas where they can't justify a full time service. We use the term Fire Brigade you use Fire Department, America uses separate companies eg, engine co's, rescue co's, ladder co's. By specializing the guys just do one aspect of our job. In England we are jack of all trades but as we do more time in the job and become firefighting officers we do specialist courses and gain numerous qualifications. I'm much to modest to list all the special qualities I'M SUPPOSED to have. The tactics or Standard operational procedures differ in many ways but basically and I mean VERY basically we all put the blue stuff on the red stuff. Our shifts are the same, 9 hour day shifts and 15 hour night shifts but the size of the pay check is different.

Q. If you could describe your job in one word, what would that one word be?

A. One word = .........................UNIQUE.

This page was created by Erin Stinson and was last modified on August 15, 1996. Picture property of Phil Castleton and used with permission.