Firestyle Magazine Issue 7 - Spring 2017 | Page 11

Starting on his 18th birthday he
has personally totted up more
than 30 years but said the job is
still as rewarding as it was when
he went on his first shout - a
chimney fire.
In the space of just one
weekend earlier this year the
father-of-three found himself
being lowered onto a ship by
helicopter after it caught fire
at sea and being operational
commander at a 10-pump
highrise fire.
During this two-day stint he was
also putting pouring over statistics
to head up a safety campaign,
to encourage businesses to use
sprinkler systems, and studying
for his masters degree in Fire
Engineering.
He said: “It is hard to say what
a typical day at work is like. I
think of being a firefighter as
something I do, I have never
woken up and sighed at the
thought of going into work.
“I am excited. I feel I belong,
it is like a family, and you are
all driven by a desire to help
people. We do a job where you
might have to put your life in the
hands of the person next to you.
“The camaraderie is one of
the best things about the job,
another is that no two days are
ever the same – every day is
almost a blank piece of paper.”
This was certainly case when the
48-year-old Maritime Tactical
Adviser from Warsash was paged
on February 24.
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