HEARING so much about the heroism of firefighters in the media, it is certainly an appropriate time to celebrate our marvellous firefighters in Yate.

Our local fire and rescue services will change over the next couple of months and despite the major upheavals in the lives of nearly all of the firefighters, they remain positive, reassuring and ‘ready for action’.

Each of the watches have their own identities and the bond which develops between members of these teams can be entertaining as many of us have discovered when the Station is opened up for community events and fundraising.

When the alarm rings, the professionalism and team working is clear for all to see and every one of those firefighters are prepared not only to do a good job but are prepared to go one step further too.

Every one of our firefighters has dealt with and seen, sights that would leave a lasting impact on any one of us, but they move on, trying to forget the car crashes, burning buildings, and a host of events involving serious injuries to members of the public as well as the expected animals up trees.

As they move into different stations, different watches or adapt to different working practices, the time has come to say thank you to them all for being there when we need them.

We also thank them for giving safety advice, checking our houses and helping so many groups in our community.

We thank you all and wish you every success in your new roles.

I am sure we will soon be hearing about the work of the day station and those firefighters who will be working regularly there.

Jenny Clark

Chaplain to Yate Fire and Rescue Station

Quedgeley

Yate