FIREFIGHTERS are hot under the collar about the £126,000 earnings of their fire chief.
Cheshire's top fireman Steve McGuirk's earnings increased by £33,000 last year and he came in for a roasting from the Fire Brigades Union.
His basic salary rose by £19,600 in 2004, but the officer earned an additional £14,000 because, for nine months, he had dual responsibility, also acting as chief fire officer in South Yorkshire.
He split his time between the two forces, after the Government asked him to stand in during an investigation involving the South Yorkshire fire chief's suspension.
Dave Williams, secretary of the Cheshire Fire Brigade's Union, said: "Our members, firefighters, will be disgusted. We face the prospect of losing fire-fighters' jobs and control room staff.
"We have been told this is to pay for the pay rise that firefighters received, which was extremely modest in comparison with the chief fire officer's salary."
Nationally, firefighters fought a bitter pay dispute after asking for a £30,000 a year wage. They finally settled for a 16 per cent staged increase over three years, taking their salary to £25,000.
Cheshire Fire Service spokesman Evan Morris, said: "The salary of chief fire officers is set by the National Joint Council for Principal Fire Officers of Local Authorities.
"It is based on risk and population. Cheshire has the largest petrochemical risk in Britain, if not Western Europe."
In a statement, Cheshire Fire Service added: "The salary was due to the chief fire officer of Cheshire acting in a temporary capacity as county fire officer of South Yorkshire and Cheshire for nine months during this period. South Yorkshire Fire Authority reimbursed Cheshire Fire Authority the full salary cost for the initial period."
Greater Manchester chief fire officer Barry Dixon earns £116,750 a year. He is in overall command of 41 stations which deal with 90,000 calls a year.
Cheshire has 24 fire stations and deals with about 33,000 calls a year.
