Just when you thought you couldn’t have any more respect for the firefighters.
A firefighter’s tweet gained a lot of traction on Wednesday. Mick, who’s Twitter handle is @crispymick, tweeted a photo of his helmet as he made his way to tackle the fire at the Grenfell tower in west London.
Mick said, ‘you know it’s not going to be good’ when a firefighter is told to write their name on their helmet.
Mick’s tweet sums up the danger firefighters face, and the scale of the horrific fire which has claimed 17 lives so far. Police expect the death toll to rise over the coming days.
According to The Guardian, nine firefighters were hurt trying to rescue people in the building. Dany Cotton, the commissioner of the London Fire Brigade, fears for the mental health of the firefighters.
“I’m more concerned longer term about the mental impact on a lot of people who were here. People saw and heard things on a scale they have never seen before.”
Some might find the details given by the resident distressing https://t.co/OnCTljAdZC
— JOE (@JOE_co_uk) June 15, 2017
This emphasises the bravery of the firefighters, who continued to try put out the blaze and help people despite the abject horror unfolding all around them.
It also makes it difficult to watch this clip of Boris Johnson from 2014.
The Foreign Secretary, who was London Mayor at the time, told an assembly member to “get stuffed” when concerns were raised about budget cuts and job losses in the London Fire Brigade.
Since the Conservatives were elected in 2010, 10,000 frontline firefighters have lost their jobs and the budget for the Fire Service has been cut by 17 percent.
Boris Johnson says "get stuffed!" when questioned about cuts to fire services. pic.twitter.com/XHFVsU77JO
— Angry Scotland (@AngryScotland) June 15, 2017
So, a message from The Sun wasn’t going to go down well as they prepared to tackle the blaze in west London. The newspaper’s picture desk asked if they could use Mick’s photo, and he replied:
“Nope… not in your shitrag.”
Here’s a screenshot of the tweet:
Mick’s Twitter account is currently unavailable, but The Sun’s response hasn’t been deleted.
Hi Mick, can we use this image on our site please?
— The Sun Picture Desk (@SunPictureDesk) June 14, 2017
Both of Mick’s tweets went down extremely well with people on Twitter.
His tweet went viral, but did his response touch a nerve? Why is @CrispyMick no longer on Twitter? pic.twitter.com/0iWPDe1n7N
— Peter Manning (@PeteManningFoto) June 15, 2017
My new favourite person – thank you @crispymick pic.twitter.com/JnQfzNpP2F
— Malcolm V Tucker 🏴☠️🇺🇦 (@Tucker5law) June 15, 2017
Imagine being a firefighter and hating the Sun. What a great human you are @crispymick pic.twitter.com/yR63xnSvbe
— IndependentLiverpool (@IndpndtLiv) June 15, 2017
https://twitter.com/BolshieBear/status/875232698910093312
https://twitter.com/r0eland/status/875376652569784320
https://twitter.com/moiness/status/875095670805475338
https://twitter.com/Nick_Pettigrew/status/875101050038104065
