An Egremont firefighter has retired after 37 years and nine months of dedicated service.
David McDowell, 61, from the town, who acted as watch manager at Egremont Fire Station, had his retirement celebration earlier this month, after living the retained life since he first joined the fire service in his early 20s.
Over the years David has attended all kinds of incidents both minor and major across the county, including the 2009 floods and the Rowntree chocolate factory fire in Egremont in 1994.
He has also contributed to dozens of fundraising efforts and drives over the years, such as helping the station win the National Textile Competition several times by the collecting thousands of tonnes of textiles to support the Firefighters Charity.
Officers, colleagues and family gathered at the station in the town on November 15 to celebrate David’s service achievement.
He was presented with gifts by his family friend and former leading firefighter Raymond Colley, his family and current and former colleagues along with Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service officers.
David said: “On the day of the celebration the amount of people that turned up, I was shocked to be honest. They came from as far as Maryport, but for me, they’re not just colleagues, they’re friends.
“I feel very proud of what I’ve achieved, but that 37 years and nine months moved pretty quick and it was an enjoyable time. But I knew it was my time to go and I know the station is in good hands.
“You do get a lot out of it all, personally, I think I got more out of Cumbria Fire Service than they got out of me.”
But towards the end of the gathering, the Egremont crew were called out to attend a building fire on the town’s main street, just a short distance from the station.
David said: “Just as the presentation was coming to an end, when you have a cup of tea and go for a couple of drinks, a call came in as a persons reported.
“So they were all flying out the station with blue lights, pagers going off, and it was a bit of a strange feeling seeing your crew turning out when you’ve stepped back.
“But it’s the retained life and it’s happened to me, when pagers turn on, everything has to stop.”
David first became a second generation firefighter in 1987, following in the footsteps of his father, sub officer Gerrard McDowell.
He later climbed the ranks to become leading firefighter before he became watch manager.
David said that as a child he would often see his father rush out to the sound of the call bell – something that inspired him to start his own journey with the fire service.
He added: “My dad was at Egremont Fire Station for 22 years, and he became the sub officer there, he joined in 1963 and retired in 1985.
“So I always had that interest in the fire service with my dad taking us down there, they used to do kids Christmas parties, it was a little community.
“I then started in 1987. After going through all my training my first call out was to Orgill Junior School at half past 11 at night.
“It was just a false alarm, but that was the start of my retained life. It was a decent first call at half 11 at night to get used to because you’re called out at all sorts of funny hours.
“My last call out was on February 28 and it was good for me, because nobody was hurt and it was nothing of a call.
“It was a smoke alarm going off, but it came in as persons reported, so four appliances turned up that day and there was nobody in the house and no issues, so it was a win win for us.
“But it was a nice way for me to say goodbye to the Whitehaven crew and through the month we were turned to Seascale so I said goodbye to them lads as well.”
David said he’s attended all kinds of incidents both major and minor over the years.
He said: “We’ve been called to serious incidents, fatalities and all kinds of things like that, we got turned out to the chocolate factory when it burnt down and the fire at Egremont’s Old Hall nightclub.
“But for every bad call out you get, there’s more call outs that end well.
“Over the years it’s been good to see less house fires because
“We’ve been called to serious fatalities and stuff like that, but for every bad call out you get, there’s more call outs that end well.
“But over the years it’s been good to see less house fires because more smoke alarms are now fitted and they do save lives, if you don’t have one, get one fitted.”
David said that he is also proud of how the station’s fundraising and sense of team spirit has grown over the years.
He added: “We’ve done some great charity work over the years, we actually converted a room fully into a Santa’s Grotto we’ve raised tonnes for the textile competition each year, which supports firefighters year round.
“One of the other things we did is I came up with an idea a few years ago to create a roll of honour board going back to 1861, I couldn’t get every name as it went through the war years, but that board was unveiled in 2017 and it has photos and names on it.
“We were also fortunate enough to go to Downing Street when we were put forward for a fundraising award.
“I think it’s that camaraderie that keeps you going. You also get a buzz out of the fundraising stuff, that team building is fantastic with the car washes and things like that.”
David also said that he has had great support throughout his retained career.
He said: “There’s a couple of people who helped me through my career. Raymond Colley served alongside my dad, in fact they went fishing the day I was born.
“Raymond was still on the fire service in the 90s and he set me the foundations for me to progress to where I did.
“But my family too, nobody can do the retained life without the support of their family, because without them, it doesn’t happen.
“When you’re shopping and your pager goes off or it goes off at 2 o’clock in the morning, it impacts on family life, so you need that support.”
David said he would encourage anyone interested in joining the fire service to reach out to to their local fire station.
He said: “Egremont are recruiting and you do get a lot out of the service, it’s a fantastic service to work for and you get a lot out of supporting the community.
“They drill on a Monday night, two hours a week, normally between 7pm and 9pm and the telephone number is 01946 820281.”
