IT IS 30 years since the West Yorkshire Fire Service came into being. Here, reporter ED REED looks at some of its work
SATURDAY, May 11, 1985 should have seen one the happiest afternoons in Bradford City's history.
The team had just clinched the Third Division trophy and were looking to a bright future after a clash with rivals Lincoln City.
But by the end of the day 56 fans were dead - killed in a massive blaze which engulfed huge sections of the Valley Parade ground.
That traumatic event was just one of the many times West Yorkshire's firefighters have been called to tackle major disasters over the past 30 years.
This Saturday the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service celebrates its 30th anniversary, with a gala at its HQ at Birkenshaw, Bradford.
The day will end with a Last Night Of The Proms-style performance at Huddersfield Town Hall.
Chief Fire Officer Phil Toase said: "It's going to be good to meet the people we serve and see them enjoying themselves in celebration of the hard work of the county's emergency fire service."
There are about 1,700 full-time firefighters in West Yorkshire, with 162 retained - part-time - firefighters and more than 230 support staff.
They crew 66 front-line engines and are based at 50 fire stations around the county.
Day after day they face risking their lives to save other people.
Day and night crews wait for call-outs to any type of major or minor disaster; road, rail or air crashes, floods or chemical spills - as well as the perennial cat rescues!
An example of the sheer manpower needed to avert disaster took place last year. Moorland fires that ravaged Yorkshire were one of the area's biggest conservation disasters for more than a decade.
In baking heat, firefighters fought blazes on Meltham Moor, Warley Moor above Halifax, and Newmillerdam Woods, near Wakefield.
An area of five square miles of moorland was destroyed by fire above Halifax and two square miles was ravaged above Marsden.
