News / Avon Fire and Rescue
‘Her memory lives on’ – remembering firefighter Fleur Lombard
Respects were paid to the first female firefighter to die on duty in peacetime Britain on the 28th anniversary of her death.
Fleur Lombard was just 21 when she tragically lost her life tackling a serious fire at what was then Leo’s supermarket in Staple Hill.
Having graduated in 1994 with the Silver Axe Award, she was posthumously awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal and Chief Fire Officer’s Commendation in recognition of her bravery.
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Exactly 28 years after her death, firefighters and the wider community gathered in front of her memorial by the library on Broad Street in Staple Hill on Sunday to remember Fleur.
Paying tribute to Fleur, chief fire officer for Avon Fire & Rescue Simon Shilton said: “Her memory lives on year on year. It lives on to the fact that changes in firefighting techniques, in national operational standards, in the fire kit that we wear today and also in how we understand the behaviour of fire. It was the driver for the very first fire behaviour unit, which was based at Brislington.
“Fleur’s name lives on and it lives on worldwide. It lives on through the Fleur Lombard Trust where many firefighters have carried first aid right across the world to learn from other fire and rescue services across the world to bring techniques black to the country to continually enhance what we do on a day to day basis.”
Wreaths laid at the memorial of Fleur Lombard, the first female firefighter to die on duty in peacetime Britain, on the 28th anniversary of her death
John Terry, who was chief fire officer at the time of Fleur’s death, paid tribute to the firefighter on behalf of her family.
After wreathes were laid in front of her memorial, the Firefighters Prayer was read out followed by a minute silence in honour of Fleur.
All photos: Ellie Pipe
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