I sadly learned recently an old colleague of mine named Jim O’Halloron had passed away. I first met Jim when I joined the County Borough of West Ham Fire Brigade in 1964. Jim like myself was a firefighter throughout his life and probably one of the funniest people I ever met. In 1965 when the Greater London Council (GLC) was created, West Ham Fire Brigade was absorbed into the new Greater London Fire Brigade (LFB) where we remained for the remainder of our long careers.
Jim was a very likeable person and always quick witted with something of a sardonic outlook on life, but his observations would always bring everyone in a room close to tears with laughter.
One of Jim’s ambitions was to write a book at some time in the future of his fire brigade experiences, and this he finally achieved after retirement with his hilarious book “Arson Around” which took a somewhat irreverent look at life in the fire service.
Jim was a life long supporter of West Ham Football Club, so much so, that as can be seen from the picture below, he even had his coffin painted in their colours. As also can been seen, Jim was so highly regarded, he was given a fitting and very appropriate send-off.
I shall miss Jim and this article is a small personal tribute to a wonderful man.
Filed under: A Fireman never dies.......... | Tagged: Arson Around, fireman, Jim O'Halloran, West Ham Fire Brigade | 3 Comments »
Mick's Muses's 