It's November. We all know what that means. Bonfire night. Like most people, I love fire works and for some strange reason, bonfires. Perhaps it's because throughout history man has used fire to cook his food, keep him warm and protect him from predators. Through our recent history, this vital resource has become more controlled and hidden from view, just think how we heat our homes and cook our food in our modern so called civilised society, so whilst this ingrained fascination remains, our understanding and respect seems to have waned.

This seems to be especially so with our adolescent population. It seems that each generation, having not been brought up with using fire on a daily basis for all of the aforementioned activities, seem to discover it for themselves in their teens, and sometimes with devastating consequences. So, what to do about it? Well we can't reverse the technological advances of mankind in order to get these kids to get used to fire from an early age and develop that respect for it. So what's the next best thing? When we lived in smaller tribal communities, the elders would sit down with the youth and tell them fantastic stories and some scary ones too. We still do this today, its called education.

With the level of knowledge and understanding we now have of the human psyche, why is it that our educational resources are still being deployed in the wrong areas. Allow me to explain. Fires are often set by mischievous 12 to 16 year old children. So our educational resources are being focused onto this group in order to try and stop them from doing it. Now I'm not suggesting for one minute that this should stop altogether, but isn't that what we would term in the business community as "fire fighting". You see, their already there. They're already at that stage of curiosity and capability. Francis Xavier is attributed with saying, "give me the child until he is seven years old and I'll give you the man". If we start with our kids when they are at school starting age, 4 years old, they are already at a stage were they can understand information they are given, especially in a story format. Information gained in these early years becomes ingrained within our very being, that's why events of our childhood have such a profound affect on the rest of our lives.

What we need is for someone who has been there and done it. Someone who has the experience, expertise and passion to make a difference. Dave Fanning of Mersey Fire and Safety may just be that man...........

Dave Fanning joined the fire service as a cadet at the age of 16 in 1964. Throughout his career he has seen many distressing and often unnecessary things. In 1985 Dave attended a fire were he recovered the body of an 18 month old child from its cot. The fire had been set by a 3 year old jealous sibling. As you can imagine, an incident like this has a profound affect on ones life. It was after this incident that Dave began to write children's stories with a fire safety message. Whilst on nights, after coming back to the station from a call out, he would doodle away. In 1995 he wrote and implemented schemes for schools for the fire service and was given an award from Prince Charles in 1996 for schemes for children of all ages. Between 1995 and 1999, whilst Dave was running these schemes, there was a 50% reduction in false alarms and small fires.

Dave left the fire service in 1999 and when he did, they stopped running those schemes in the schools. Dave set up his own company called Mersey Fire and Safety, were he advises other companies on their fire safety, but the children's stories and passion to make a difference never stopped. In 2006 he got his first book published by Redwood Press. Phil the Fire Engine was officially launched.

Phil the Fire Engine is aimed at 4 to 8 year olds. It is based on the engine himself having a series of adventures. There are 4 fire personnel that work with Phil called Roger, Rhani, Robert and Robin. All of the adventures that Phil has, not only raise awareness, but also contain a fire safety message. The books are also being used in the burns units of some children's hospitals. Clinical Nurse Specialist Kevin Ryan from Booth Hall Burns Unit says:

"There are good educational and preventative messages within the books which prompt discussion with the children about the circumstances of the fire they were involved in. Sometimes the children have real fears and experience some degree of post traumatic stress and often are unwilling to talk about their experience. Phil the Fire Engine books are a useful tool in helping them open up and talk about their experiences".

As public sector budgets get squeezed ever tighter, it often falls to the private sector to pick up the slack. It is through story's like The Adventures of Phil the Fire Engine that this can ease some of the pressures off the fire service and re allocate their budgets into other areas. Dave remembers when there used to be 4 aerial units that covered Merseyside, they are units that are capable of getting a fire fighter up to 100ft off the ground in order to fight fires as opposed to the 30 to 40 ft of a standard unit. Now there is only one. Phil the Fire Engine is actually endorsed by the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority.

So, what does the future hold for Phil the Fire Engine? Well, more books to be published is a certainty, but Dave also needs more exposure and a bigger uptake from schools. Some national exposure wouldn't go a miss and who knows, maybe a cartoon series on the TV. After all, prevention is much better than cure, especially given the nature of the message, sometimes cure is not an option that is available to the victims of fire.

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