Kibworth Fire Fighter Retires

Kibworth Fire Station lost one of its longest serving members on 31 March 1995, when John Wilford retired as a Leading Fire Fighter (L/LF - Number 1572) after 29 years service. John was promoted to this position on 1 August 1983 - 12 years ago. He was the Second in Command at the Fire Station, responsible for men, drills, office work and being in charge of the pump.

John, who lives in Harcourt Road, Kibworth Beauchamp, was born in Manchester Cottages in Great Glen. His father (born in Debdale) worked on the railway for 25 years as a plate layer and also looked after the railway line. His mother was born in Station Hollow, Kibworth Beauchamp and John was one of eight children - four boys and four girls.

John married Pam Deacon 30 March 1964, having met her at the Saturday Night Dance at the Kibworth Village Hall, and they moved to Halford Street. They now have three children (Michelle, Lesley and Tina), and six grandsons.

He started his working life with John Bull Rubber in Leicester and then moved to Bedford Granulating (who recycled plastic) on the site of the former Gas Works in Kibworth Beauchamp. John remembers there were two gasometers in the grounds at that time. This company was taken over by Coba, who also recycle plastic, and are now world famous for their Aeromat matting. This means that, on 9 August 1995, John will have worked on the same site for 30 years and he would like to take this opportunity to thank Tony Cooke of Coba, who allows him to leave work to respond to a call from the Fire Station.

John's introduction to the Fire Service was rather dramatic. In April 1966, Pam lit the fire in Halford Road and the chimney went up in flames. When John arrived home at lunchtime, he found the fire engine outside his house and the firemen inside. After putting out the fire they proceeded to do a recruitment drive - and John officially joined the Fire Service on 10 June 1966. At that time it was known as the Leicestershire and Rutland Fire Service, which then became the Leicestershire Fire Service, and is now the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service.

The original document stated that he should: "attend the Fire Station at Kibworth with all possible speed and on all occasions within ten minutes of the call bells or siren being operated.....subject to fulfilment of all the conditions, you will be paid the standard retaining fee of £65 per annum by quarterly instalments in arrear. In addition a turn-out fee of 23/- will be paid to you on each occasion of a fire or other occurrence. An attendance fee of 23/3 will be paid to you when you attend at the Station in response to a call within the time specified." John says "The call out bell was placed at the top of our stairs and, at night, we had to put a beer mat in between the gong and the bell so as not to wake the children - we now have bleepers!"

John received the Fire Brigade Long Service & Good Conduct Medal, after 20 years service, and this was presented to him on Thursday 7 May 1987 by the Lord Lieutenant of Leicestershire, Colonel R A St G Martin at an Investiture at County Hall, Glenfield. He was instructed "to wear best uniform, together with cap" and "each recipient of a medal will be given a specially made medal holder which will be fixed securely in the tunic immediately above the centre of the left breast pocket".

Amongst the big fires which particularly stand out in his memory were Waring & Gillow in Leicester and Invicta Plastics in Oadby. The latter was particularly sad, as three of the women were rescued from inside, brought to the door and then dashed back inside to retrieve their handbags - they were overcome by the smoke and died. John also attended the chemical spillage near the Ram Jam Inn on the A1 near Peterborough - another incident for which he had been trained.

John attended the air disaster at Kegworth when a British Midland Boeing 737 jet plunged into the M1 embankment. Emergency services from throughout Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire went to the scene, including the fire engine from Kibworth - which arrived in the early hours of the morning when it was still dark. The only way the crew could get to the scene of the disaster was by driving down the motorway and under the revolving blades of a helicopter. They then had to go inside the fuselage to search for the 'black box' and make a general sweep of the aircraft to sift through the wreckage for personal belongings to assist in the identification of the dead and seriously injured.

John was also with the Kibworth crew who attended the fire at the Frank Berry yard. It wasn't until after their arrival that it was discovered that asbestos was involved. They then had to don masks immediately, strip in the street and put on protective tops and trousers! After the fire had been contained, they had to be decontaminated before leaving the scene - this entailed stripping off again and having a cold shower (the portable one carried on the fire engine) . Luckily it was summer!

The Kibworth Fire crew were also called to the fire at Humberstone Gate two years ago. Their training stood them in good stead here, as the flames from the next door building suddenly leapt into the one in which they were standing. John says "The tiles were popping off the roof with the heat, we used the hose jet as an umbrella, the water acting as a shield between us and the flames".

Although John is on call 24 hours in every day (as are two others), the rest of the Kibworth Fire Station staff are on call for 18 hours.

John is the first to admit that working for the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service is very rewarding and is convinced that more people (with, as yet, no knowledge of the Fire Service) would also find this true. The Fire Service are always looking for more recruits and, should anyone reading this be interested, they should come along to the Kibworth Fire Station between 7.30 and 9.00 pm on a Monday evening and ask for Bill Spicknell.

John's retirement party was held at the Kibworth Working Men's Club on Friday 31 March 1995, which was attended by over 150 people. This was both a sad and happy occasion for John. The end of 29 years association with the Fire Service combined with the attendance and good wishes of so many of his colleagues and friends.

Amongst those attending were John's family and friends, Mr Norman Dickinson (Chief Fire Officer of Leicestershire), Mr Nigel Campion (Assistant Chief Fire Officer), Mr Nick Kirby (Divisional Officer), Mr Ian Lomas (Divisional Commander Operational Support), Mr John Freeman (Divisional Officer) and Mr Graham Norman (Assistant Divisional Officer). The crew from Kibworth were there in full strength, together with representatives from the Stations at Billesdon, Market Harborough,Wigston and Corby.

John would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the numerous gifts he received, which included a framed certificate from the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service signed and presented by the Chief Fire Officer, a large framed print of Weston's 'Men of Fire' presented by Station 35 (Kibworth), cut glass brandy glasses from Station 31 (Wigston), a cheque from the Chief Fire Officer, gift vouchers from Station 36 (Market Harborough), a framed photograph from the Divisional Officer Operations Support and two bronze sculptures, one from Pam and one from his daughters and their families. Pam was also presented with a floral tribute from the Kibworth crew. There was also a cake - photograph in the next issue of the Chronicle!

John's last fire call was Thursday 30 March, to a gas explosion in a house in Market Harborough. He returned home just after midnight - after handing in his kit and his bleep!

We all wish John a long and happy retirement and are sure, knowing him, that it won't be long before he is involved with another activity - which, again, we are sure will also be to the benefit of all.

Thank you John, from us all.

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