Hastings and Rye firefighter receives 30 year service award

Gary, from Rye, serves with both the Hastings and Rye fire crews and follows in the footsteps of his family. He said: “My father, his father, his sister, my uncle and cousin all served in the service at Rye. I used to go and watch them when younger to see what they did. I also worked locally and wished to give something back to the community in the form of a service and this matched both my wishes. “My first call out was to a gorse fire on cambers dunes. It turned into a three appliance call due to its size and I help in running hose from hydrants to appliances to the scene of the fire to help to extinguish. Explaining the different challenges between Rye and Hastings, Gary said: “Call-outs at Rye can be more exciting because you could be anywhere, doing anything, when your pager goes off. You then have just five minutes to get to the station and get the fire engine on the road. At Hastings, you’re already at the station waiting for a call, so the initial excitement is a little less. “The types of incidents also vary. In the countryside, we tend to deal with more animal-related emergencies, while in town, we’re more likely to attend incidents involving buildings. “Another big difference is the availability of backup. In Hastings, additional fire engines and other emergency services can usually reach us much more quickly. In rural areas, we could be waiting up to 20 minutes for extra help, even when dealing with a building fire.

Reflecting on incidents he has responded to over the past 30 years, Gary said: “There have been a few incidents which stick in my mind with the top three being the 20 appliance warehouse fire in Rye Harbour, the clearing up of 500,000 litres of unknown chemical waste at Tradebe, also at the Harbour which lasted several days, and finally the fire at St Michaels Hospice which had its own challenges due to the care/patients that were at the property Gary has also used his skills further afield: “The fire service train us to a high standard in first aid and whilst on holiday at Disneyland Florida I noticed a commotion in the car park. Being a little inquisitive I wondered over to find a man collapsed on the ground and people standing there and shouting. “I instructed them to locate a Defib as I could see that the man was not breathing and possibly having a heart attack. I carried out the initial survey to find that he was indeed not breathing and started to administer CPR. I then fitted the Defib and instructed someone else to do CPR. After delivering one shock the man started to breathe again and the paramedics arrived soon afterwards.” Fire stations are famous for their camaraderie, practical jokes and friendships. Gary said: “At Hastings we enter the Hastings Carnival Weeks Pram Race which entails building a pram all dressing up and pushing it through the Old Town streets. One year we built a tank which could squirt water out of the cannon and soaked the crowd as we were all dressed as the army. The following year part of the changes in the rule was no water squirting was to be done.

Talking about the changes he has witnessed over the years, Gary said: “Health and Safety has had a big change in the way we deal with fires as we tend to spray water from the outside instead of the inside if there are no persons at risk. This makes it somewhat less exciting but a lot safer for us. Modern working uniform and the newer equipment has also made life safer and quicker to deal with other types of incidents such as car crashes “The thing that keeps you going back for more is the excitement and challenges of not knowing what you will be faced with until you get you get there and your knowledge of then how to deal with it then gets to be put into practise. The crew are also like an extended family and help to make the job not to be a job. Asked if there is one achievement or moment that makes him feel particularly proud, Gary replied: “I don’t really have any one special moment but and I know it’s a little bit of a cliché but helping someone when they are in trouble is and always remains the biggest achievement you can have.”