THREE generations of firefighters based at Liphook Fire Station have worked a combined 100 years for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service (HFRS).

Between them, the trio of Andy, Mick and Percy Weeks have put out thousands of fires and rescued hundreds of people across Hampshire.

Andy is a station manager in the New Forest and has marked his 25th anniversary with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service – first as on-call and later full-time. His dad, Mick, served for 45 years, leaving as a watch manager, while his grandfather, Percy, clocked up 30 years as a firefighter. Both worked from Liphook Fire Station.

Percy became an on-call firefighter while working jobs including grave digger and warehouse man in 1954.

Mick, a shop assistant at a greengrocers, was taken on under the tutelage of his dad and others in 1969. Andy started in 1992. He was employed as a green keeper on a golf course at the time and worked with his dad who was in charge of the watch.

Mick said: “When I started, there was no breathing apparatus available and we would ride to jobs on the Bedford TK vehicle. All the firefighters brought skills from their fulltime jobs to the role.

“We had mechanics, fishermen and carpenters. We still had house bells in those days and, as soon as that alert went, adrenaline would kick in.”

Mick added he feels the culture of HFRS is one of the key things that drew in generations of his family.

He said: “The then chief, Malcolm Eastwood, visited stations to talk to crews while his wife made teas and coffees – I remember thinking that I worked somewhere special. I was involved in a crash between two fire engines which collided on black ice while they were responding to jobs. The chief came to the hospital and waited all day until everyone was checked over and released.

“That is very much the culture now. There is great importance placed on the welfare of the people who work in the organisation. It is like a family.

“I really can’t imagine working anywhere else or doing a job I enjoy as much. I have never felt unhappy at the thought of going into work. I remember visiting Liphook to deliver training to my dad and my friends as particularly good times for me on a personal level.”

In addition to Liphook, Andy worked at Rushmoor, Basingstoke, Winchester, Alresford and Droxford before moving to headquarters as a trainer.