THE legacy of a Redditch firefighter has been shared by his son who was inspired to follow the same career path.
From an early age Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue (HWFRS) station commander, Richie Young, knew he was destined to be a firefighter.
The Evesham resident was heavily influenced by his dad Terry Young who served as a watch commander for 33 years.
Richie spent much of his childhood following his dad around Redditch fire station before Terry’s retirement in November 2008.
He said: “I would spend hours there pretending I was one of the crew.
“I knew as soon as I turned 18 I would join the fire service.
“I remember one of the first jobs I did with my dad once I had qualified.
“It was a large flat fire in Feckenham which, as an inexperienced teenager, was quite daunting.
“However I watched the calm, calculated way in which my dad handled the incident and that made a lasting impression on me including the way I approach situations now.
“He treated me like one of the crew when we were at work – I didn’t receive any preferential treatment.
“We could have had a huge disagreement at home but as soon as the pager went off we were firefighters.”
Richie’s first memory of his dad tackling a fire was when he was six-years-old.
Unfortunately it was an embarrassing situation for Terry who had set fire to a row of 30 ft conifers for a bonfire, resulting in his colleagues arriving to put out the blaze.
Terry not only influenced Richie, who has been a firefighter for 15 years, but also Richie’s older brother Clive who is training to be a firefighter at the age of 44.
“My four-year-old daughter also appears to have inherited my interest as she loves coming to the station with me,” said Richie.
“I wouldn’t hesitate to encourage my children to think about a career in the fire service but I don’t think I need to worry about that just yet.”
