Alan Maddern firefighter in Cornwall retires after 40 years

Alan Maddern, 57, from Helston joined the Helston Fire and Rescue Service back in 1982 at the age of 18 and has served the community as a firefighter for 39 years.

He was recently awarded a commemorative axe by Deputy Mark Hewitt as a token of his many years of service.

"I can still remember my first RTC (road traffic collision), was out at Laity and back in those days it was the old Falmouth road before they improved it," Alan told The Packet.

"I'll never forget it, it was a tipper truck lorry heading towards Falmouth and there was a car coming the other way, and basically the bulkhead of the car was under the front bumper of the lorry and had wedged itself under the lorry.

"Things like that you never forget."

Alan was given a commemorative axe for his service. Picture: Kathy White

"There was another out in Breage on February 7 1991, there was a thatched cottage out there that caught fire in the winter, and it was that cold out there that, as we were putting water on the fire, it was running down the road and it was actually freezing."

Alan also stated that he'd wanted to make it to 40 years but, due to Covid and having a family that were shielding, decided that now was the time.

"I wanted to try and get to 40 years, but unfortunately Covid reared its ugly head, and I've got my wife at home and a daughter with autism and epilepsy so they had to shield.

"The fire service were very good, they said 'your next of kin is more important', and so I've been here shielding.

"That's the thing with the fire service, they are good family-wise."

Alan joined the fire service in 1982

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Alan also recalled how the job wasn't without sacrifice and he would often find himself doing anywhere from 80 to 120 hours a week.

"On the flip side of the coin, or as they call it now 'on-call,' is that there's a lot of commitment, as obviously you have your daytime job and on top of that you have your cover for the station, which can range from anywhere from 80 hours to 120 a week.

"There are times where you'll say 'perhaps we'll go to the beach,' and as soon as you say that the pager goes off and you're out on a call that may take all day and all night.

"The thing is, if you've got a good team, you've got to bounce off of each other, so that if you go out to something horrific, you've got to try bounce off it, otherwise you'd end up as a nervous wreck."

Having joined in the early 80s, Alan also oversaw a number of organisational and technological changes to the job over the years.

"When I first started in '82 we had a bell in the house, down my parents' place, which went off as well as the siren in the town above the Guildhall that would go off to assemble you all.

Alan hopes to spend more time with his daughter now he's retired. Picture: Kathy White

"Then we went over to pagers, they were okay but they were a little intermittent as it was quite new technology."

Alan also went on to explain the differences in training when he started as opposed to the training conducted now, saying: "Health and safety is a big part of it now.

"For basic BA (breathing apparatus) training we were put in the kilns up near St Austell, which was a heat and humidity test, and you were in your fire kit, your boots helmet, leggings and tunic, and your breathing apparatus, and they put you in a brick kiln as the bricks are being cooked.

"They've stopped doing that now."

Now that he's retired, Alan says he'll be spending more time at Perranporth Model Engineering Club, with which he is a member, as well as with his daughter.