Christmas blow for army fire crew

Welsh soldiers practice fire drills

A regiment of Welsh soldiers providing emergency cover during the fire dispute is facing Christmas away from their families.

Men from the 1st Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Wales, who are usually based in Germany, are currently on duty in the west Midlands.

But if the dispute continues as planned through December, they will remain at the Territorial Army base in Walsall from where they are operating at present.

Captain Owen Pritchard praised the team's work

This is the second Christmas in a row they could be away from base - last year the regiment was in Kosovo on peacekeeping duties.

Private Graham Thomas, from Port Talbot, has a wife and child in Germany.

"I'm not too happy about it, but being in the army, that's the job you get paid for.

He added that the soldiers would be there for as long as they were needed.

Lance-Corporal Lee Orgill from Rhondda, the leader of the fire team, thinks the men coped very well with first few days of strike.

We are here to provide emergency life saving capability and I think the guys are doing a superb job.

Captain Owen Pritchard

"It's very demanding, very different type of operation that we've been doing, but it's been good experience for the boys as well," he said.

"We had the maximum amount of training in the minimum time which we were given.

"The public can see we have carried it out to the best of our ability, and we've been improving on the ground during incidents.

Private Gary Howells from Llanelli is the operator of a red fire engine, rather than the usual army Green Goddess vehicle.

He admitted it was easier to drive, explaining: "The red fire appliance has got power steering and it's automatic.

"We get trained for very similar situations whilst in the army so I think the boys were just looking forward to having a different challenge.

He said the soldiers had had a good reaction from the public while carrying out their firefighting role.

The regiment has tackled a big fire during the strike

"It's been quite good actually. Whilst we're driving to incidents and back, they all give us a cheer and a thumbs up.

"We've been going a lot of car fires, skips and myself, I did go to the factory fire which was quite a big job," he added.

Gary was referring to the first major incident of the eight-day strike, a fire at a disused factory in West Bromwich which took 100 army firefighters over two hours get it under control.

He said: "We got a call to say there was a factory fire and when we turned up it was a little bit bigger than we expected.

"I think there was about 14 fire engines there altogether - it took us about five hours to put it out."

Praise

The company's second-in-command, Captain Owen Pritchard from Aberdare, was full of praise for the way the soldiers had coped with their temporary role.

"I think it's gone very well. The guys have showed huge levels of commitment and motivation.

"They have tackled a new challenge up to professional standards that you'd associate with them.

"As the eight-day strike progressed, they have grown in confidence and in that confidence have shown more professionalism in dealing with fires.

"We'll never be to the same standard as firefighters, that's obvious, but we have a very different task.

"We are here to provide emergency life saving capability and I think the guys are doing a superb job."