Sometimes, events beyond our control put life and work in perspective for us. A week like this, when the death of four firefighters in the blaze at Wealmoor’s vegetable packhouse has dominated the headlines, is one example.
While we will all sympathise with the huge disruption this causes to the day-to-day business of one of our own - competitor or otherwise - the names of Ian Reid, Darren Yates-Badley, Ashley Stephens and John Averis are, I’m certain, at the top of our minds.
That the worst loss of life for on-duty firefighters in more than 30 years should touch this industry adds poignancy to the story for us all. As Wealmoor stresses, the human loss over-rides everything else in the matter.
This could, of course, have happened in any warehouse, in any industry, but for it to have happened in a packhouse which has recently been taken over from a firm that went into liquidation has led to distasteful and disgraceful conjecture in the national media. I, like all of you, do not know how or why this tragic event took place. But some of the pure speculation that has been passed off as investigative journalism this week makes the mind boggle.
FPJ obviously offers our own condolences to the families of the deceased. We also hope that police can decipher the cause behind the fire as quickly as possible and stop the gruesome guessing games.
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