in his 30 years with West Yorkshire Fire Service Steve Kain has seen it all.
And even on his very last shift, just days ago, he was called out to deal with a major moorland fire near Cupwith Reservoir on Marsden Moor which needed five pumps.
The 51-year-old from Newsome has now hung up his hose for the last time and is looking forward to spending more time with his wife Carole and their two children Rachael and Jonathon.
Steve joined the Fire Service in April, 1985 after a stint in the Merchant Navy, during which time he undertook a Fire Course.
He said goodbye to the Navy and began his probationary training at Cleckheaton before moving to Huddersfield Fire Station where he was based for 11 years.
A series of promotions followed including becoming a Leading Fireman at Slaithwaite Fire Station. Eventually he became Watch Commander at Wakefield Blue Watch before returning for a second stint at Headquarters in Operations.
Later he was involved in the building of a new Fire station for Normanton and a refurbishment for Castleford Station and also the introduction of a new crewing shift system into West Yorkshire Fire Service.
Since April last year he has been part of the command, leadership and management Team of Wakefield District.
Steve said: “I have had many memorable moments. I was once with Huddersfield White Watch and went on a trip over to the East Coast where we went on exercise with the RAF Search and Rescue helicopter from Leconsfield and the RNLI lifeboat from Spurn Point.
“We went out in the helicopter and was lowered by winch down to the lifeboat which brought us back to shore – a great experience.
“On another occasion I was called out to a chemical company in Huddersfield which resulted in myself and a colleague being stark naked in the middle of winter in the chemical works in preparation for decontamination through the Chemical Cleansing Unit (CCU).
“After being decontaminated we were given a thin boiler suit and flip flops so to stay warm we stayed in the CCU which itself then caught fire due to a fault on the water heating system!
“One of the saddest incidents was a house fire at Marsh were a colleague and I brought two young children out of the fire but sadly one lost his life.
“Many years later I was invited by family, who had contacted the firestation asking about the firefighters on the day many years ago.
“I was touched that this young boy wanted to meet me after such a long time. This was a very sad incident.”
