A life without pagers awaits for the longest serving on-call firefighter in Purbeck, as Wareham crew manager Tom Reid looks forward to retirement after more than four decades.
Tom’s final drill night after 41 years, three months and three weeks turned into a send off attended by a hundred colleagues and friends at Wareham fire station on Tuesday 25th March 2025.
Dorset and Wiltshire assistant chief fire officer Marc House wished Tom Reid all the best on his retirement
An outstanding career
Since walking into the fire station on Tuesday 6th December 1983, Tom has fought around 8,500 fires, attended 2,100 fire drills and seen off around 100 of his colleagues at Wareham.
The celebration of an outstanding career included a retirement cake in the shape of a firefighter’s jacket, the presentation of a firefighter’s axe and a video highlight of his time in the service.
Tom will still have a few more days at the station before he formally retires on Monday 31st March, 2025, but says even after that he is still likely to be back.
One of the largest blazes he attended was in Wareham Forest in May 2020, which took two and a half weeks to extinguish, and led to a very public display of support from the town.
The Wareham forest fire of May 2020 took two and a half weeks to bring under control
“Toughest fire we have ever dealt with”
Tom Reid said:
“I worked for the Forestry Commission while also volunteering as an on-call firefighter. We were called out to go to a small fire in the forest but it soon became very clear it was a major incident, the toughest fire we have ever dealt with here.
“On one hand, working as part of such a big team, all pulling together to extinguish this extraordinary fire, was something very special. However, on the other hand, I was looking at 20 years of my working life literally up in smoke, and that was very difficult.
“It was during Covid, and we were all out every Thursday evening to clap for the NHS. After the fire, someone in the crowd then called three cheers for their firefighters, and we all had some dust in our eyes at that point!
“I also remember the shout to the BDH chemical plant in Poole that went bang one Tuesday night in June 1988 and became a large hazmat incident with 45 gallon barrels flying through the air.”
Tom Reid with wife Dawn and son Liam in front of the Bedford fire truck Tom started his career with
High tech trucks with computers
When Tom first volunteered at the Wareham fire station, he only intended to stay for a couple of years to see how he got on, but liked it so much that he ended up staying for 41 years.
He said that the biggest change he had seen in that time was the equipment the fire service works with – when he started, the crews used basic Bedford trucks with just a radio for communication, but now have high tech trucks with two computers on board.
Tom is now one of just a handful of on-call firefighters who have given more than 40 years of service to their local community.
He grew up with the fire service, as his dad was a firefighter in Strathclyde in the 1960s, and the family connections continue, as his son Liam is now also on call at Wareham.
His knowledge of the local area, and of trees through his work in the Forestry Commission, proved invaluable during incidents, from knowing the best routes through local forests, to helping the safe rescue of someone trapped by a tree by knowing which branches to cut through.
Tom, front left, in the latest team photo from Wareham Fire Station
“A roller coaster with its ups and downs”
Tom Reid said:
“I’ve loved every minute of my time in the fire service, and I’ll always be a firefighter at heart.
“But being on-call does mean you don’t always have the freedom to go for a long walk, or a family lunch, so I’m looking forward to more time with my wife Dawn and the rest of the family.
“I can only describe my career at Wareham fire station as a roller coaster, with its ups and downs.
“When the alerter goes off and you respond, you don’t know what you are coming into the station for, although the one thing I won’t miss is being called out of bed on a wet night at 3 am to attend to someone’s fire alarm!”
Crew manager Tom Reid with a dog he rescued during one of his 8,500 callouts
“Looking forward to being pager free”
Tom added:
“But the important thing is, I’ve been part of a team and couldn’t have done it without everyone around me, we are like one big family.
“The camaraderie is outstanding and I would recommend a career in the fire service to anybody.
“I’m not staying away from the station, I will be back for open days or whatever they want – you can take me out of the fire service, but you can’t take the fire service out of me!
“It’s been so much a part of my life, but I am looking forward to being pager free for the first time in 41 years – I’m going to be a teenager all over again, enjoy life and see what happens next!”
Tom Reid and proud son Liam pose at Tom’s final drill night at Wareham Fire Station
“It spurred me on to join”
His son Liam said:
“I have lived with the fire service all my life, and joined up because of dad – I was used to him disappearing off to the fire station at a moment’s notice.
“It looked like fun and spurred me on to join, then to qualify as a paramedic.
“Dad’s goal has always been to help people and that’s all I’ve ever known. I joined the fire service in Swanage, recently moved to Wareham and now I have to carry on doing his job!”
A ticker tape farewell surprised Tom, who said he had never seen a sendoff like it!
“He’s been a real inspiration”
Dorset and Wiltshire chief fire officer Andy Cole said:
“It’s people like Tom, and their dedication to their colleagues and the wider community, that keep the fire and rescue service going.
“Being an on-call firefighter is incredibly rewarding, but it needs a level of commitment that goes beyond the individual into their family life and primary employment. My heartfelt thanks go to Tom and everyone who has supported him for 41 years.
“He has been a real inspiration to his colleagues at Wareham and across the wider service, and he will be missed.
“On behalf of the service, the people of Wareham and the wider communities of Dorset and Wiltshire, I am sending Tom every good wish for a long and happy retirement, with plenty of time to enjoy life without the interruption of a pager!”
More than a hundred colleagues past and present came to wish Tom the very best in retirement
Further information
- Find out how to become an on-call firefighter on the fire service website
