Have you ever thought about
the shape of a fireman's helmet?

The comb on the top of Bryan's helmet
was to protect his head
from falling building material.
Between the wars
stronger, lighter cork helmets
replaced the old brass style,
but the comb shape stayed
because it still worked.

Bryan joined Croydon Fire Brigade
in 1961:

"I can remember the first day
because I was so excited about it
and not a lot happened;
a false alarm,
someone stuck in a lift.

The bread and butter stuff,
the one room fire,
the pan of fat,
the oil heater,
they were quite regular then,
and loads of chimney fires.
It was quite a busy period.

There was a lot of derelict buildings
in Croydon,
they were like tinderboxes,
and sometimes
there'd be tramps asleep in them.
The worst part of the job
is when you've got people
that have died in a fire
and other people have come out
and they're still looking for them.

But we used to get all sorts.
You might get a prank
where someone's getting married,
and someone'll call you
and you get there
and he's handcuffed naked
to a parking meter.
And this bloke's all embarrassed
and you say,
'Sorry mate, we can't help you',
and you make as though
you're going to go off.
We have a few laughs."

When Bryan became a fire fighter
in 1961,
Croydon had its own Brigade.
His first experiences were local.

The Greater London Council (GLC)
was created in 1965.
It took control
of fire fighting in London.
The London Fire Brigade expanded
to fit the borders of the GLC.
Bryan could now be called out
to big fires
as far away as north London.
His helmet was painted yellow
so that his uniform would match!

This sound clip was created during the
I Am Here project. The group of 14-24
year olds selected objects close to their
heart that also said something about identity.

I Am Here is part of Stories of the World,
one of the major projects at the heart of the
London 2012 Cultural Olympiad.

"My name's Dammir, I'm 16 I live in Croydon
and I am doing a project called I Am Here.

Oh, I picked the helmet because I like to be
safe and it reminded me of being safe and the
fact that a helmet could represent quite a lot
of things. For instance the shape is a cone
shape, so, like, there are many animals or
bugs that have a cone shape as a house and
it just mainly just different little elements
that add to it, that's the reason why I chose it.

The helmet was a fire helmet, I had the name,
I think his name was Sam. It is tattered, but,
it saved his life on numerous of times. Another
reason why I chose it because man made
things that could hurt and then made things
that could save, it just contradicted itself
basically. And I like that concept.

Would I become a fire fighter? YES! NO!
Don't know! No I wouldn't. Most likely because
it's too demanding really, like, I am kind of a
laid back person and I feel that it probably take
too much out of me, I don't know, that sounds
kind of selfish, but I wouldn't really become a fire
fighter. There are good things about being a
fire fighter because, like, you get self
achievements. You feel happy inside after what
you've done, you save lives at the end of the day.
You save lives, you save communities, you help

people, you help cats from trees. It just a
demanding job really and its 24 hours and
you have to be on call every single day.
Because you never know what going to happen,
you never know.

Like, I would like to have a job its just
set times you know not random what so
ever, I can't have that, its too much. Like,
maybe when I am older I might become a
fire fighter, reasons being like you know,
what else have you got to do, might as well
become a fire fighter or truck driver, but I
prefer a fire fighter also I get to wear the
helmet (chuckles) the helmet that I like. Yeah,
but right now I won't become a fire fighter
because I rather do engineering or media,
like, its pretty good stuff you know, engineering,
media and then later on maybe it I lose
those like that motivation, the drive me on,

I would become a fire fighter in Croydon,
probably see me driving around in a fire truck,
wearing my helmet, you know, I might even
save you one day! This podcast will help you,
you know, to remember my name. Yeah, so
that's the reason why I might or might not
become a fire fighter, you know, you just
never know, the world's too small!"