The Kerslake Report, into the response of Greater Manchester Fire & Rescue Services (GMFRS) after the Manchester Arena Bombing that took place last year, was released only a few days ago.
In part, it highlighted that GMFRS Crews were held back from attending the scene by senior management.
Over the last few days, we have heard from loads of colleagues in GMFRS via our Emergency Services Humour page on Facebook who were on duty that night, and every single one of them, without exception, wanted to attend the scene. They were desperate to get to the incident in order to help with the emergency services’ response.
They felt extremely let down by the fact that they were not allowed to do the job they are so passionate about doing; saving lives.
But this message seems to have been lost on some people, who cannot ‘see the wood for the trees’. One of the crews held back on that evening, was sent an incredibly insensitive letter by a member of the public:

We asked our colleague who sent a copy of the letter into us (who wanted to remain anonymous) how reading it made the Fire Crews which were held back on that night feel. Our colleague said:
“Total disbelief to be fair That someone would even take the time to write and post the letter but also to be so insensitive.
We passed it one of the other watches, as they were one of those crews held back. They couldn’t take it seriously to think that someone would even think like that.”
It seems beyond belief to us, here at Emergency Services Humour, that anyone cannot grasp the fact that the decision to NOT deploy GMFRS was made by someone in Senior Management.
It WAS NOT made by the GMFRS crews themselves.
We sincerely hope that by sharing this article, then it helps to clarify to anyone who would be motivated to write a similar letter to think twice before being so insensitive. If anything, then the letter should have been sent to GMFRS HQ.
It should not have been sent to the men and women who put their lives on the line DAILY in order to save the life of a complete stranger.
How is it even possible that someone could draw a conclusion that anyone willing to run into a burning building in order to save lives, would be ‘too scared’ to attend the aftermath of the act of pure and utter evil that unfolded on that dreadful night.
If for one minute you think that the brave men and women of the GMFRS were ‘too scared’ to attend the aftermath of the bombing, then you clearly know nothing about how the emergency services works, or the calibre of brave men and women who sign up to serve on the #ThinRedLine.
And let us not forget, that there is ONLY one person to blame for what happened on that night. And it was the individual, whose name we refuse to type, who was riddled with hate and infested with pure evil.


