Long service awards for Warwickshire firefighters

The crew from the part-time fire station in School Lane were called to the incident in May, where they found the 94-year-old trapped behind a locked first-floor window in a heavily smoke-logged room.

While reassuring the woman that rescue would be soon, they broke though the window to enable her to breath fresh air.

Firefighters then got into the room and lifted the woman down the ladder to safety, which led to a Chief Fire Officer Commendation.

Fire Brigade Long Service and Good Conduct Medals were presented by the Lord Lieutenant of Warwickshire, Timothy Cox, and included Firefighter Darren Emms, wholetime Leamington/retained at Kenilworth.

Also, Watch Commander Stuart Hall, Wellesbourne; Area Commander David Pemberton, Leamington; Firefighter Stephen Perry-Dehaney, Leamington; and Group Commander Ian Tonner, Leamington.

Chief Fire Officer Andy Hickmott said: “It was a real privilege to be able to recognise those staff who have completed 20 years’ meritorious service or have gone above and beyond the call of duty to keep their communities safe.

“The ceremony provided me with a great opportunity to personally thank them for their commitment and dedication to the service and to the communities they serve.”

A Community Achievement Award was presented by Cllr Les Caborn, Warwickshire County Council’s portfolio holder for community safety, to Les Moore, an arson reduction officer.

After many years on operational duties, he lead and developed initiatives to combat arson attacks, particularly among young people, which saw him working from court premises, one of the first times such a step was taken by a fire service in the UK..

Another recipient was former teacher Ruth Greenhalgh, a fire service education officer, who developed the Schools Fire Safety Education Programme, programmes to deter juvenile fire setters – which led her work to being cited as national best practice. She has also managed an initiative which aims to cut accidents involving young drivers.