Diss family is devoted to serving its community in the fire service

A father whose sons have followed him into the fire service is stepping down from his full-time role after 26 years spent protecting his community.

Robert Powell, 51, of Farm Close in Diss, has reverted to a part-time, on-call firefighter at Diss station, having spent the previous 14 years at North Earlham in Norwich.

His two eldest sons, Harry, 24, and Joe, 22, already work in the fire service, based out of Thetford and Diss, respectively, while youngest son George, 14, is in the fire cadets.

“I started out in Sprowston for three years before serving for nine years at Bethel station,” said Mr Powell.

“After 14 years at North Earlham, I felt it was time to step back into an on-call role so that I can spend more time with my wife, who recently retired, and have a nice holiday or two.

“It’s been such source of pride seeing my sons follow me into the fire service, and it’s been really special going out on jobs with them.

“I’ll really miss the banter and everyone I worked with, although I’ll still keep in touch regularly.

“The feeling you get from a positive outcome on a job will be hard to replace. I have plenty to keep me busy around the house though and I manage my youngest son’s football team, Scole Under-15s, which I’ll carry on doing.”

Son Joe, who now lives in Costessey, near Norwich, balances a full-time job with being a retained firefighter at Diss station.

He said: “I’ve been working alongside dad as an on-call firefighter since 2017 and it’s been great working with him. We’re not all full time, but we still get called out regularly and complete drills once a week.

“I remember visiting the fire station when we were kids and I always wanted to be a part of the fire service when I grew up, and dad has inspired that.”

To return to our homepage, click here.