Firefighters are sometimes the only people who can help when a “catastrophe” strikes in the community, says Shropshire’s fire chief.

“When their emergency pagers go off, day or night, they drop everything leaving behind half eaten meals or half mown lawns. The rest of the time they are waiting for the 999 call, knowing that at any moment they could be called to help someone in peril,” said chief fire officer, Rod Hammerton.

He was speaking at a Celebration of Success event held at Shrewsbury’s Theatre Severn to mark “the passing out” of newly trained firefighters.

Firefighter Graham Rowley, of Shrewsbury’s Red Watch, takes a well earned break at the end of the first day of a marathon charity cycle ride in which he and colleagues rode 67 miles from Shrewsbury to Ludlow via six fire stations.

Graham is with Zoe Foster, a sports massage therapist and Helen Smith, an Indian head masseur at the end of the first day of the cycle ride to visit all 23 Shropshire fire stations.

A total of 20 cyclists completed 67 miles today ending day one at Ludlow fire station where the cyclists were "pampered."

It was fun and laughter all the way for children from Chernobyl hosted by Shropshire firefighters as part of an annual respite visit.

A dozen youngsters, aged between 10 and 12, squirted water in the parade ground at Shrewsbury fire HQ, were given treats at the station and shared a meal with firefighters.

It was all part of a visit to Shropshire organised by the county branch of Chernobyl Children’s Lifeline (CCL), which county firefighters support along with other organisations.

A major training exercise will be launched by Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service at the weekend (July 9th) when firefighters will test their skills.

They will use part of the disused maternity unit at Royal Shrewsbury Hospital to carry out realistic rescues using breathing apparatus and search and rescue techniques.

Fire officers will also test their communication, casualty handling and incident command procedures during the training event on the morning of Saturday, July 9.

Three times as many people die in a fire in Romania than in the UK – a stark statistic which has led to a five year Shropshire led campaign to improve survival rates in the eastern European country.

A team of volunteers, both serving and retired staff from Shropshire and Merseyside Fire and Rescue Services set off for an eight day mission to Mures County in Romania on Wednesday (June 15)to donate much needed fire equipment and to provide aid to an “adopted” children’s refuge and old people’s home.