A special evening of celebration was held at Appleby Fire Station to recognise John Bell on his retirement after 30 years of service.
John first joined the fire brigade in 1993 and has provided 30 years “exemplary service” to Appleby and the surrounding areas.
“This was not just operationally, but training up new crew members and lots of prevention work in the local community,” said a spokesman.
John is described as a well known and respected role model in the local community. His “day job” is a self-employed builder, with a small team working in the Eden Valley.
His years of service have seen him become a specialist trained in wildfire, trauma/injury and water rescue, even being called out of county for wildfire incidents over the years.
During the global pandemic, the fire service were called on for help and resource where John helped with testing in schools and also supported the ambulance service when they called on fire service for support with blue light driving due to shortages.
John has been married for over 34 years to his wife Christine, and has three daughters — Carla, Hayley and Hannah — as well as five grandchildren.
He is looking forward to spending more time with his family in his retirement — and continuing to travel and adventure in his camper van. One notable day was when Prince Charles visited Appleby in 2015 to meet local residents and spend time meeting the firefighters from Appleby station — with John being lucky enough to meet him.
