Witney News - Witney firefighters shine at award ceremony

Witney firefighters shine at award ceremony

Firefighters based at Witney Station were celebrating after being named 'Best Retained Station' at the Oxfordshire County Council Fire and Rescue Service annual awards.
Witney Station beat off competition from 23 other retained (part-time) stations in the county to scoop the prestigious title at the recent event.

Watch Manager Simon Bradley, the retained officer in charge, was proud to accept the award on behalf of his team.

He said: "It is a great honour to receive this award, which is testament to the professionalism of all the retained staff based here in Witney. We are absolutely delighted."

Terrific performance
Oxfordshire County Council's Chief Fire Officer John Parry added: "Congratulations to Witney Station on a terrific performance over the last 12 months. All of our retained crews work very hard to maintain the highest possible standards, so to win this award was no mean feat."

The criteria for the award included appliance availability, training, community safety work and response times.

Crew Manager Steve Cook collected a further award on behalf of the station for providing 100 per cent availability over the last 12 months.

Individual awards
A number of individual awards were also received by Witney firefighters.

Firefighter Martin Charlett collected a certificate for 30 years' meticulous service and Firefighter Shaun Rankin received his 20-year Long Service and Good Conduct Medal.

The award ceremony took place at Kidlington headquarters on September 18th.