Prestigious award for West Midlands Fire Service

Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council, Roy Wilsher, has praised firefighters for receiving the national Emergency Services category at this year’s national awards. The ceremony will be aired this evening (Tuesday 6th November).

The accolade, sponsored by ITV’s This Morning programme, recognised the response of West Midlands Fire Service firefighters who responded to a road traffic collision, where a driver had been fully impaled on a metal railing.

A three-metre metal railing had gone into his chest and out of his back, pinning him to his car seat, leading to a technical and complex response.

Roy Wilsher commented, “I would like to congratulate West Midlands Fire Service for receiving this accolade which recognises their excellent response to this incident.

“Fire services from across the country carry out complex rescues every day and I delighted to see firefighters recognised as this prestigious event.

“This highly complex incident could have had a very different outcome if it wasn’t for the professional response from these firefighters. I am delighted to see a fire service winning this highly coveted award.   

Firefighters were informed that they had won the award live on air during an episode of This Morning at the end of October. They were invited to not only attend the celebrity awards ceremony, but also to a reception at 10 Downing Street.

The rescue was captured on helmet cameras worn by crews for TV show ‘Into the Fire’ which features West Midlands Fire Service.

Phil Loach, chief fire officer for West Midlands Fire Service, said, “It is an honour to receive the award from the ‘This Morning’ programme. This was an exceptional response by our own crews and of all the agencies involved. To have our firefighters recognised as the ‘Pride of Britain’ is very humbling.

 “The incident was an exceptional example of why emergency response by firefighters and other ‘blue light’ services continue to have a life-changing impact.”