Scottish Daily Mail

Foamy Joe and the marshmallo­w melee

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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.

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