FIRE SERVICE RETIREMENT
Farewell after three decades of service
A
fter three decades of serving the communities of Staffordshire, Fire Station Manager Gary Fox has hung up his helmet. On January 16 some 31years after his inaugural day Gary walked out of the Staffordshire Fire & Rescue Service headquarters for the last time. He said: I can t quite believe it. I m so thankful that the service saw something in me at the start a 19-year-old lad with very little life experience. It really gave me a chance. The story began on a Thursday morning in November 1990, when Gary first enrolled on the new recruits course to pursue a long-held ambition of becoming a firefighter. But it wasn t always smooth-sailing. Gary said: My first day was November 8, 1990, where I started my 18-weeks training at Newcastle Fire Station. It s no secret though that I found the course difficult in the beginning. I was actually put on a two-week notice period originally as I wasn t meeting the required standard. It takes perseverance though, and thanks to the support of the recruits and instructors I was able to get through and complete the training. 28 Newcastle Life Issue 33
Learning & Development trainers in 2008 (Gary Fox is pictured in the back row, centre)
Gary then began his career as part of Blue Watch in Stafford in March 1991. The Watch were absolutely brilliant at supporting new recruits and I truly believe that the six-and-a-half-years I spent there probably set me up for the rest of my career, Gary said. During his service, Gary attended various incidents across Staffordshire.
He said: Whilst I was on Red Watch Stafford, we were called to reports of a 14-yearold boy who was stuck up a tree. He had been climbing with friends and had reached 100 foot, before getting anxious and becoming stuck. I was tasked to use our Rope Rescue Equipment to climb up to him, fit a harness so he couldn t fall, and guide him down to safety.
