When referring to a person, strapping means big and strong. Now I know firefighters come in various shapes and sizes as well as both sexes and are no less effective for that, but somehow when I see the trucks go by I imagine all the crew to be big strapping lads. These days I don’t spend much time on imagining them, but I was absolutely forced to do so while writing my romantic novel Firestarter. Being a writer is such a tough job!

Strapping is also the action of using straps to fasten or secure something so it can’t get away. If I imagined that sort of strapping in connection with firemen, I’d keep it to myself.

You’ll note my plan to photograph actual firemen didn’t go quite as well as I’d hoped …