I fully intended to go back down to carry on enjoying my break, but before you could say “Massey Shaw”, I was dressed in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and with camera in hand I was off to find my fire. This is a book that needed to be written, as the further we get from these events and recollections of the heroics of ordinary people performing extraordinary feats in the most testing of circumstances, the more likely it is that they will be forgotten altogether. I was probably fairly bright and had been doing well with my studies but I know I was a bit of a disappointment to my parents because, having been put in the advanced classes with good reports, at that time I decided I didn’t need to worry about all that because I was going to be a fireman. I cannot recommend this book highly enough; if you have an interest in firefighting, in the London Fire Brigade or want to have a career in the job then read this book! It does talk of a time gone by, but the last couple of years have been full of remembrances of the heroics performed by other groups of people during the Second World War, and David Pike is right to include this period in the book, but also, to take us back to the very start of organised firefighting.

But the most despicable issue with this work is that the author chose to totally disregard the instruction of his employer to remain quiet about the Grenfell Tower fire and allow the victims and their families to have the tragedy properly examined at the public inquiry. It was US Firefighters raising funds for British Firefighters in World War Two which saw the establishment of the Fire Services National Benevolent Fund (now Firefighters Charity. A steady ‘plodder’ more than a high flier he learnt his trade craft serving, and commanding, the Capital’s busiest and most challenging fire station, Brixton.It was a different time, that’s not something that could happen now – just imagine, an unaccompanied 14-year-old at the station. And to quote the late Gordon Honeycombe who attributed this quote to another book, "Probably the best book ever written by a firefighter about the London Fire Brigade. The latest book from author and retired fireman David Pike, I Was a London Firefighter is an anthology of factual narratives and fictional tales loosely based around the personal experiences of individual members of the London Fire Brigade. The following excerpt is from the chapter “Anatomy of a Fire,” following Station Officer Simon Reece – a third-generation firefighter with the London Fire Brigade. Firefighters don't get as much recognition as they should, and this book highlights that they are the unsung heroes of our emergency services.

Since I left the service, I’ve started a company that consults and advises on fire safety and I was recently on my way to do a survey of a building when I passed the tower. I looked up the street for any spare firefighters; there was one running between the two pumps ensuring they were both pumping an adequate supply of water, and the old German fireman helping where he could.

Outside I got into a taxi, and pointing to the smoke, I told the driver the only words I could think of “fuego” and “bomberos. It takes in such subjects as the IRA’s 20-year bombing campaign in London and the changing status of female firefighters. The book includes reminiscences by former firefighters alongside descriptions of key historical figures. I was suffering a bit now, and as if reading my mind, Dave pulled back and I pushed up to the nozzle. Finance is provided by PayPal Credit (a trading name of PayPal UK Ltd, Whittaker House, Whittaker Avenue, Richmond-Upon-Thames, Surrey, United Kingdom, TW9 1EH).