THE sheer danger of a firefighter’s job was brought into sharp focus by the tragic incident in Warwickshire earlier this month.

Four men died while doing their job tackling a blaze at an Atherstone-on-Stour warehouse, made all the worse by the fact that it could have been arson.

If there was ever any doubt in the mind of anyone that firefighting is dangerous work, this should surely have dispelled that thought.

It was one of those events that firefighters the world over dread and our hearts, thoughts and prayers went out to family and friends of the victims.

Today’s Examiner carries a graphic double-page report on how new fire crews are trained here in West Yorkshire.

The recruits will at times be up against very real dangers which they will face with courage and dedication.

It’s not so long ago that these emergency workers felt under attack by Government ministers, who sneeringly referred to their service as being in need of ‘modernisation’.

Employment relations could certainly have been better over the last few years and new policies communicated more clearly.

This has already been acknowledged by the Government, which has expressed a desire for a new start by an improvement on both fronts.

It is especially important the Fire Minister Parmjit Dhanda listens to leaders of the Fire Brigades Union who complain that a rise in firefighter deaths is linked to cuts in training.

Just where would we be without people prepared to be emergency workers who place their lives on the line to save others?