As a sailor Pete was a trained and experienced firefighter. In the 1970s he was one of many service personnel standing in during the long running firefighters' dispute. During one particular rescue his team were horrified when the casualties leg came away from his body; they were quickly relieved to discover it was an artificial one! Later when he moved back to Hong Kong in 1996, one of his jobs there was fire safety at the new Lantau Airport. Despite all this training and experience Pete wasn't always a patient man. And this often became apparent at barbecues. In Hong Kong at the LEP Training School Pete was having trouble lighting one. The answer he reasoned, was a full jerrycan of petrol. On pouring the petrol the barbecue lit immediately (no surprise there) and the flame then followed the flow back to the can. He quickly turned, did something resembling a pirouette, and pulled the can away. And was now stood in the middle of a ring of fire...much to everyone else's amusement. Always one to learn from his mistakes, he could repeat them almost exactly. Back at home in Park Road, Alverstoke he was having trouble lighting the barbecue (sound familiar?). This time Pete used a tin of french polish. This time the flame shot back into the can and the can exploded shooting french polish all over the garden and setting it on fire. Pete was left slightly blackened and holding what was left of the can. He looked like a cartoon character.