FULL-TIME firefighter Jan Lisiecki has served with the Wiltshire Brigade for 28 years

Originally a welder, he joined the service in 1974 after developing industrial dermatitis.

He said; "I was allergic to both the welding chemicals and the chemicals used to remove them.

"I went down to the labour exchange and they told me the brigade was recruiting, so down I went and within three days I had started training."

Mr Lisiecki who has worked all over the county is now based in Trowbridge.

In 1977 he had been in the service just three years, and before he had even finished his training, he found himself caught up in the national strike.

It was in the depths of winter and the country had already seen a long series of strikes when the firefighters decided they had no alternative but to strike too.

Mr Lisiecki said; "We were on strike for nine weeks before the Government capitulated.

"I was based in Salisbury then and there were about 40 of us, all of whom went out.

"Nine weeks we were out, nine weeks with no money before the Government finally gave in and gave us the raise we needed, which was phased in over three years."

He said: "I remember the public were great then. People would stop when we were on the picket line and tell us they supported what we were doing.

"All the people in my station came out, but I heard of others who didn't support the strike, either because they felt it was morally wrong, or because they just couldn't afford to strike."

Mr Lisiecki said it was a difficult decision. "It's a catch-22 really. You are in a position where you can't afford to live and the only thing you appear to be able to do is strike.

"I think being involved in the 1977 strike has given me a different perspective. Once you have been on strike and seen the hardship caused you really don't ever want to go through it again. It's not something I wanted the first time and it's definitely not something I want to do for a second time."

He said: "I can guarantee that there won't be a fireman the country who wants the strike.

"What we are being forced to do is put our families ahead of our morals. Morally it is wrong for us to strike, but if we can't get a living wage, what are we meant to do?"

He is typical of the firefighters who want to serve the public, desperately don't want to strike, but feel they have been backed into a corner by the Government and have no alternative but to consider strike action.

As well as their traditional duty of putting out fires and rescuing cats stuck up trees, modern firefighters do a huge range of other jobs. Mr Lisiecki said; "We are constantly training in this job. We have to be trained to use computers, new breathing apparatus, and new techniques."

Firefighting has never been a nine-to-five job and firefighters like him have to fit their lives around shift work.

He said: "I work from 6am to 6pm at the station, and then I'm on call from 6pm to 6am. You do that for three days and then have three days off, but you don't get good sleep if you know you have the bleeper.

"We can always be recalled if there is a really big emergency, so in a sense we are never off duty."

But he said firemen need a certain personality type to do the job.

"It can be a bit surreal sometimes when everyone is running away from a disaster and you are running towards it.

"Even the police and the ambulance services say they wouldnot do our job. It's more of a vocation than a job.

"It's physically very demanding and we have to stay fit. Most of the lads run or cycle or use the gym because you have a responsibility to the team to make sure you are fit enough to do the job."

As well as the physical side, being a firefighter is a very emotionally demanding job. He acknowledges that what he sees can take its toll. "I would say the most difficult aspect of the job is incidents involving children. You get some memories you never forget.

"My wife does worry when I go out on calls, and of course she jumps a mile every time the phone rings. It can put an added pressure on your home life."

The long working hours, physical demands, emotional stress and danger that firefighters put themselves in are the reasons why he, and thousands of other firefighters all over Britain, think they are worth more than £21,000 a year.

He said: "I have five children, all under 14. We have to live within a mile of the fire station. Stations are usually in town centres, so we have to try and pay mortgages on expensive town centre houses and support our families.

"The younger firefighters can't afford to get on the housing market and the older ones can't afford to support their families.

"If people want to join the fire service, they will look at the pay and probably be put off, because they will earn so much more from punching a computer.

"Our wages imply that an office worker has more valuable skills than we do, which I don't think is the case.

The Government spin doctors keep bandying this 40 per cent around, which makes us sound greedy, but all we want is paying for the work we do."

Firefighters start on £17,000 a year, which increases to £21,000 after they have done the five years training needed to be fully qualified

After that there is no way of earning more until the long service increment they get after 15 years of service. After 20 years of service they get a medal.

Mr Lisiecki said: "Our wages have failed to keep up with inflation for years, so we are left needing a large increase just to catch up with other people in similar jobs."