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Firefighters outside St Giles' Cathedral in Edinburgh, ahead of the funeral of firefighter Barry Martin who died while fighting a fire at Edinburgh's historic Jenners building. Picture date: Friday February 17, 2023.
THE wife of a firefighter and Fire Brigades Union (FBU) member who died tackling a major blaze in Edinburgh said that she was “utterly privileged” to have known him ahead of his funeral today.
Barry Martin, 38, died on January 27 after sustaining serious injuries while fighting the fire at the former Jenners department store on Princes Street four days previously.
Ahead of the service at St Giles’ Cathedral in the Scottish capital, his wife Shelley paid tribute to her Fife-born husband as a “motivated man who was driven” to be a firefighter.
This summer’s fire outbreaks highlighted once again the deadly cost of job, equipment and funding cuts to the fire service. Ten years after the Grenfell tragedy, serious lessons still need to be learned, says STEVE WRIGHT
