Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 30/03/2009 10:09

Cornwall County Fire Brigade hosted its annual award ceremony, which recognises the positive achievements of fire fighters and the brigade, at the Maritime Museum in Falmouth last week (26 March).

The evening included the presentation of Long Service and Good Conduct Medals, the presentation of Cornwall County Council 25 Year Medals and the Chief Fire Officer’s Commendations to Brigade personnel.

The Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medals are awarded by Her Majesty the Queen to honour those who have rendered long and meritorious service as members of Fire Brigades in the UK. The qualifying period for the Award is a period of 20 years.

Lady Mary Holborow, Cornwall’s Lord Lieutenant, presented Long Service and Good Conduct Medals to :

· Watch Manager Terry O’Rourke, Bodmin

· Firefighter Keith Coles, St Austell

· Firefighter Nigel Furze, St Austell

· Firefighter Shaun Smith, St Austell

· Firefighter Danny Smith, Liskeard

Long Service Medals are presented to all employees who have completed 25 years service with Cornwall County Council. Doris Ansari, Chairman of Cornwall County Council presented medals to:

· Area Manager Mike Roach, St Austell

· Station Manager Mike Male, Perranporth

· Crew Manager Dave Hawken, St Austell

· Firefighter Gary Hitchings, St Mawes

Chief Fire Officer Terry Standing also presented special awards to Carol Lee from Penwith Housing Association for her quick thinking and rescue of an elderly resident from a smoke filled house and Andrew Tarplee and Ian Fleming from St Ives, who rescued a gentleman from his home, having seen a fire whilst driving past.

Paul Webber, Watch Manager from St Just was presented with the Chief Fire Officer’s Cup for Community Safety which is awarded by nominations from peers. Presenting Watch Manager Webber with his award, Ken Yeo, Executive Member for Public Protection at Cornwall County Council paid tribute to his outstanding work as a retained watch manager, holding down a full time job whilst managing all Home Fire Safety Checks at St Just and driving safety initiatives within the local community.

The crew from Helston Fire Station were presented with the Chief Fire Officer’s Letter of Congratulation for the rescue of a lone worker who had fallen into a tank at a water treatment works. Crews were alerted by a member of the public who heard his cries for help and dialled 999. The Helston crew had only recently carried out an exercise at the site and as such made an extremely quick forced entry to the site and using ladders and ropes managed to rescue the worker who was suffering from shock and hypothermia.

Finally, and more unusually, the brigade itself received a certificate of achievement from the Children’s Hospice South West Precious Lives Appeal. Presenting the award, Mary Murfin from Precious Lives paid testament to the great work the brigade had done in raising £2000 for the charity over the past year, which was also the Chairman of Cornwall County Council’s chosen charity for the year.

Speaking of the event, Ken Yeo, Executive Member for Public Protection said: “The fire service in Cornwall is one we should be very proud of. This award ceremony each year reminds us of the hard work and dedication of these excellent firefighters in keeping Cornwall safe. I always enjoy being able to present these well deserved awards and hope that those that have won will be extremely and rightly proud of themselves.”

Chief Fire Officer Terry Standing added: “After a bit of a tough year for the brigade, this kind of event reminds us all of the positive work going on all around us by dedicated and hard working members of the brigade. I would like to express my thanks to all staff in the brigade, not just those that have been awarded tonight, for their hard work in beginning to turn the service around and energy and enthusiasm in doing so.”