A WELSHPOOL firefighter has retired after being with the service for 27 years.

Bryn Evans always admired his grandad for being a firefighter, and it was him that inspired him to join the service as a retained firefighter.

He’s worked as an on-call firefighter for most of his years in the service, apart from one year when he served full-time in Carmarthen.

He first joined when he was approached by Welshpool Fire and Rescue Station. He said: “I thought I’d be there for 10 years, and now I’ve been there for 27.”

After being in the job for so many years, Bryn has dealt with a variety of different fires and rescues. He has tackled barn fires and, of course, rescued cats up trees.

However, one of the rescues Bryn says he is “most known for” is when he rescued a hamster in Crew Green; making national headlines.

The hamster was lost in the kitchen, and had made its way under the floor; and firefighters had to dig up the garden to rescue it.

Bryn has also seen the fire service change a lot in the time he’s been there. He was part of the service before the Dyfed, Powys and West Glamorgan fire brigades joined as one in 1996. And now, the Mid and West Wales service covers such a large area that firefighters like Bryn have been able to develop friendships with firefighters from Swansea to Llanfyllin.