The “gentle giant” firefighter who made the ultimate sacrifice

In the early hours of May 12 1996 firefighter John Ogden was in a crew responding to a 999 call. He was a member of White Watch, based at Gorton, in Manchester’s inner-city.

His job couldn’t have more on the frontline. The inner-city station’s number of turnouts was exceptional. In the previous year 3,360 incidents had been recorded with 8000 mobilisations.

A call at 5.02am was the shift’s ninth, the previous one being a major fire at a halls of residence in Rusholme. John and colleagues got into a new N-registered Volvo Saxon appliance.

They were driving towards Rushford Avenue, in Levenshulme, where someone had deliberately set fire to a car. En route they reached the junction of Slade Lane and the A6 Stockport Road.

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On the way John helped the driver with directions and was pulling up his over trousers, stood up in a crouched position. The vehicle was travelling at between 23 and 30 mph. Without warning the door of the cab opened and John fell out.

The 40-year-old loving father, from Audenshaw, fractured his skull. He was helped at the scene by his crew and taken to Manchester Royal Infirmary. He died on May 15.

Now, 26 years later his sacrifice has been remembered with the installation of a Fire Brigades Union Red Plaque on a shop wall near where he was injured. The unveiling of it on Saturday was followed by a ceremony at Gorton Monastery attended by his family and former colleagues.

Matthew Fryer, Greater Manchester Fire Brigades Union brigade organiser said: “John Ogden was a well-loved colleague and friend. His passing is remembered and known about amongst our firefighting community in Manchester, but this plaque will ensure that the local community does not forget what he gave.

“Manchester’s firefighters have a close relationship with the community and we hope that this will only further help the people of Manchester understand the sacrifices firefighters make and in particular John Ogden’s story.”

In the aftermath of the tragedy, his widow, Janet, said his death could have been avoided if safety recommendations made a year earlier had been implemented. It emerged there had been a similar incident in April 1995, 13 months earlier, in Farnworth, a firefighter suffered bruising after falling from an appliance.

After the Farnworth incident the investigating officer made suggestions to improve safety in all appliances. This included alternative locks should be considered or the present locks modified to ensure they can’t stay in the open position when the door is shut.

A memo from a staff at Altrincham fire station on April 2nd 1996 – six weeks before John’s death – to a divisional commander listed a number of points/defects about an N-registered Volvo Saxon machine. Among their concerns was the fact there were no internal door handles on crew cab doors.

An inquest into John’s death found the locking mechanism on the then-new fire engine appeared to have shut but had not. A FBU report into the tragedy said that that after the Forensic Science Laboratory at Chorley carried out tests failure of the lock mechanism was identified as a “probability” for the cause of the accident.

The FBU investigation noted “that on the appliance in question and all Volvo appliances, there is an absence of a substantive handle on the internal face of the door.”

The Red Plaque scheme is run by the Fire Brigades Union and aims to recognise firefighters who have died in the line of duty. Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary said: “Every day firefighters go to work and may risk everything to help others. John was no different, and it is vital that we remember him. This plaque will be prominent in the local community and will ensure that John Ogden, and all firefighters who gave their lives in the line of duty, are never forgotten. It is only through funds raised by the Firefighters 100 lottery that the Red Plaque scheme can commemorate these firefighters, with so far 32 plaques unveiled across the UK.”

The plaque is on the wall of an opticians at the junction of Slade Lane and Stockport Road. In 1996 the day after John died, Divisional commander, Arthur Bell, praised him as the 6ft 3in “gentle giant” who was devoted to his family and job. Mr Bell said: “Men like John Ogden are the backbone of the service. He had been on the front line at one of our busiest stations for 21 years.”