AFTER 43 years of fighting fires, one long-serving Somerset firefighter is saying goodbye to the service.

Richard Solomon, from Highbridge, announced he would be retiring on New Year’s Day – exactly 43 years after he joined the force at the age of 19.

Now 63, Mr Solomon will be retiring from his post as watch manager at Burnham-on-Sea fire station after a varied and illustrious career.

Richard said: “I have chosen to retire as watch manager of Burnham station after 43 years in the job.

“I will miss parts of this job but other parts I will not.

“The team I work with I will miss as I saw them each day and they are a solid group.”

The veteran firefighter started firefighting aged just 19 in 1974 at Burnham fire station.

Richard has served at fire stations in Taunton, Bridgwater, Burnham and Yeovil and has taken on many roles, including watch manager and retained firefighter.

“For me this has never been just a job, it has been a career which I have enjoyed immensely,” he said.

“I have seen some tough things over the years, I have attended devastating house fires where four children have died, the huge crash on the M5 and a huge amount of road traffic collisions, all of which have been nasty.

“It really is a career and it has been a great one for me and I have been very fortunate to have been able to save several lives over the years.

“I have been a retained firefighter for the last few years but I don’t have another job apart from this one.

“I have been doing this as my main job for such a long time it will be strange to leave it all behind.”

Richard was presented with a 40 years’ service award in November and has made a big impact on his colleagues at the station.

When presenting him with his award Glen Askew said: “I have known Dick for many years – he is one of very few firefighters to have served this long.

“He has given us 43 years of service for which we are extremely grateful.”

Richard said he is not yet sure what he will do during his retirement but plans to relax and enjoy not doing shift work.