Foamy Joe and the marshmallow melee

MY FAVOURITE subject at school was science, but I wasn’t clever enough to be a scientist, so in 1963 I became an apprentice dyer. I got used to the smells and steamy atmosphere, was engrossed in the complex chemistry and loved the magical transformation that colour brought to yarns and fabrics. I wasn’t so keen on what it did to my hands! After three years, I left Scotland to complete my apprenticeship in Lancashire. early one morning a small fire broke out ‘in’t oud works’. the fire extinguishers — installed more than 20 years earlier and long overdue for replacement — produced little more than a weak stream of milky fluid, so a fire hose had to be used.

When a red-faced managing director and his retinue barged into my boss’s office demanding explanations as to why a small fire had caused so much water damage, I thought it best to clear out. Lurking at a safe distance, I could see things were becoming heated. then something was said and everyone turned to the open door where Joe, the designated works first-aid man, was standing. On cue from my boss, he began fiddling with the mechanism of a giant fire extinguisher. Suddenly, a huge jet of foam shot out and everything rapidly began to resemble a giant marshmallow. Joe was frozen in panic and those in the office were marooned. Intent on demonstrating the failure of the ancient apparatus, the poor man had mistakenly used an extinguisher from the new chemical store. Lessons were learned, the old fire extinguishers were replaced and a new post was created: Foamy Joe, fire safety appliance inspector. Ian S. Clark, Freuchie, Fife.