Speaker Evening with Francis Doney

Extract from Cornish Guardian, 27 Feb 13

The end of an era is fast approaching in Lostwithiel.

Next month, Francis Doney, will call time on his life as one of the town's community firefighters and it's a decision that, after 30 years in the service, proved far from easy to make.

"I feel a sense of resentment actually making the decision to retire as you never feel it's going to happen and you're going to be one of the team for ever," Francis told the Cornish Guardian.

Mr Doney began his career in 1982 when he was approached by station manager, Roger Pascal, with the offer to become a part of the team.

"I knew a number of the crew at that time and some of the crew were family who assisted me in making that commitment decision," said Francis. "Within a few weeks after going through the recruitment process I had joined the Lostwithiel brigade."

The date was August 18, 1982 and unbeknownst to him, it would prove to be the dawn of a long and successful career that, in time, saw Francis step into the station manager role himself.

During his 30 years of service Francis has seen sights that have both haunted and scared him.

"The memories will stay with me forever," he said. "Managing your emotions gets easier with experience but I will never forget my first road traffic accident I attended when the crew had to cut out casualties and deal with a fatality."

Francis also recalls an incident where a large goods vehicle lost control heading down into Lostwithiel one morning. The vehicle turned on its side and continued travelling towards the town, hitting buildings along the way and heading towards children making their way to the school bus.

Francis continued: "I was in charge of the Lostwithiel crew and my first call to fire control was for a major incident with the potential for a number of casualties some of whom may be young children as they were on their way to catch the Fowey school bus.

"Sadly the driver of the wagon lost his life, but it could have been so different and we all felt so relieved once the recovery and clean-up operation was complete."

Another thing that he has seen is change.

He said: "The changes within the service during my 30 years have been immense.

"What started as two divisions in Cornwall went to six and now back to four. The training has improved where we used to tackle fires without fully understanding the ethos of a fire where now everyone fully understands what makes a fire tick. Now it is a science."

As he prepares to say farewell to a life well spent as a Lostwithiel firefighter and station manager he doesn't plan on entirely cutting his ties with his crew.

He said: "I will stay in touch with the Lostwithiel crew as I have my two sons in the service.

"Jason is a full-time firefighter based at St Austell and Nathaniel serves with me at Lostwithiel. I also have other family links with other members of the crew