A FORTY-year career in the fire service began with a small advert in the Telegraph & Argus, as well as a bit of earache from his mother, said station commander Ronnie Goldwater.

“I was 19, had left Buttershaw comprehensive school at 18 and had a couple of “messing around” jobs mostly with Peter Blacks leisurewear, in Keighley.

“I saw the small advert wanting firefighters in West Yorkshire and applied, mainly to get my mum off my back who kept asking when I was going to get a proper job,” he said.

"When I went for the interview I remember going back in the waiting room and there was a guy crying his eyes out. He'd failed getting in because his eyesight wasn't 20-20. I'd passed my assessment and thought to myself, there must be something in the job!"

Mr Goldwater didn’t look back from that day. He was sent to Illingworth for his training on October 2, 1978 - despite never having heard of the place - and later applied for a transfer to Odsal where he stayed for 12 years.

He then decided to climb the career ladder and took a post as leading fireman at Elland and then at Huddersfield.

From there he was promoted to a position at Stanks covering that part of the district before being made rider station officer at Dewsbury and then at Nelson Street fire station, in Bradford.

"I wanted to get back to Bradford because that was where it was all happening, he said.

"There were a terrific number of fires. Friday night was regarded as warehouse night."

Following posts as leading fireman and rider station officer throughout the district he eventually found himself as station commander working out of Bradford with responsibility for Shipley and Bingley.

“The job was mental, but fantastic. There were around 1,800 firefighters in West Yorkshire then, compared to 900 today, and it was busy.

“There have been many more highs than lows. I have seen some awful things. Some things don’t leave you, like your first death. I remember my first day at work and all the good times like being part of the winning team in the firefighters six-aside football team which won the British cup.”

He said the job was and still is very dangerous. There were at least three occasions when he nearly didn’t return home from a shift. One was when he and a colleague fell through a floor in a factory in Wibsey.

On two other occasions he narrowly escaped fire flashback, one by going to retrieve a lighting cord which had stuck and another when he was forced to dive through a first floor window.

As far as changes go he says the biggest is the technology available today not only with equipment but in the clothing and teaching aids they use.

“Back in the day the service was responsive, now firefighters are proactive and it is down to working with multi agencies to deliver the safety message.

"Today we deal with fewer fires but more road collisions. It is how it has changed.

“There are fewer chip pan fires thanks to the availability of takeaways," he said, recalling one job where he rescued a former schoolmate, though he wasn't aware of it at the time, from a fire started by a chip pan.

"There have been many changes in the past forty years and I expect it will be the same in the next forty years.

"But I couldn't image doing anything else. The job has been wonderful. It made a man of me in the early days. I learned a lot from the older guys I was with and today I enjoy mentoring the younger ones.

"The job taught me to be a team player and empathetic towards others, even towards those who find it funny to hurl missiles at us when we are there trying to help them. That is something I'll never get my head round.

"Don't these people realise that one day they may want us to help rescue them from a fire or to get out of that car wrapped round a tree? I can't understand why they do it but I am sure the threat of a prison sentence would deter most of them for the lives they put at risk through their actions."

He is also involved in the technical rescue element of the service and recalls several occasions while rescuing animals.

"What we found out about animals is that if they can, they will," he said referring to some precarious positions they have been found in, from dogs stuck in railings and on roof tops to horses deep in mud and deer in schools, the list is endless.

Most of all he salutes his colleagues past and present, recalling some brave people he has worked with as well as the younger people he works with on a daily basis.

“Today’s firemen - and women - really deserve a pat on the back for the safety work they do in helping prevent fires in the first place through hands-on community work. They are all highly skilled people and are champions in the community. A lot of the time their talents are not recognised."

Mr Goldwater said the service was embracing the recruitment of women - another huge change from the early days - as well as those from ethnic and other backgrounds.

At the moment he is in no hurry to retire but has designs on some country retreat, possibly in Ireland, when he reaches 61 in February 2020.

On October 13 he is attending a commemorative service and centenary celebration of the Fire Brigades Union at Southwark Cathedral, London, where he will later be presented with his 40-year badge award in recognition of his union membership over the past four decades.

"The past 40 years have gone in the blink of an eye," he said.