SIR — May I express my grateful thanks to all employers who allow retained firefighters in Somerset to leave their places of work to fight fires in the county.

I refer in particular to the fire at North Hill, Minehead, which raged from June 25 to 28. This was the most serious fire that Somerset has had for many years and involved firefighters from every station in the county attending, sometimes for prolonged periods under very arduous conditions.

I am aware that some employers did not see their staff who were firefighting at this incident for some considerable time and this must have caused disruption to local businesses.

Without the support from employers, Somerset Fire Brigade would very quickly find itself in very real difficulty and the contribution that they make to the local economy in Somerset is often unrecognised and entirely unrewarded.

The fire at North Hill is only the latest example of where employers willingly allow their staff to attend their local fire station to fight fires, rescue members of the public and deal with a wide range of emergency incidents. It is entirely appropriate that they receive this recognition through your newspaper.

Perhaps the saddest thing is that the fire, which cost the brigade over £60,000 and which involved devastating loss to the local environment, was almost certainly caused by mindless vandalism of one or two youths who thought it would be good fun to cause mischief in the local community.

C S Kemp,

Chief Fire Officer,

Somerset Fire Brigade.