FIREFIGHTERS said farewell to their boss, fire station commander Ian Donovan on Monday evening.

Crew members from Okehampton, Hatherleigh and North Tawton gathered at the fire station on North Road to pay tribute to Ian, who has been a retained firefighter for 42 years — 34 of them in charge of the station.

North Devon Fire Service Commander Jon Worsley presented Ian with a commemorative fire axe from his Okehampton crew and other gifts from the North Tawton and Hatherleigh crews.

Ian, 63, has inspired many firefighters over the years, including his son John, also a firefighter, who organised the farewell gathering on Monday night.

Ian said: ‘I don’t honestly know where the last 42 years have gone, time goes by so quickly. I owe a lot to my family and my wife Mary because she’s been a big support all the way through. I’ve only been able to do this thanks to her help. To John too, because there have been times when he was younger and I was on call and wasn’t able to go to the beach. It is a big commitment.

‘The fire service has been good to me as well. I’ve done things that I would never have had the chance to do if I wasn’t in the service.’

Ian has been a mentor to the crews at Okehampton, as well as Hatherleigh and North Tawton, who he has most recently trained to deal with decontamination incidents in the event of chemical spillages.

All the firefighters at Okehampton, North Tawton and Hatherleigh are retained crew, who fit their firefighting duties around their regular jobs.

Ian himself has worked as an electrical engineer for Western Power for 47 years, only retiring from that in May this year.

‘I don’t think some people realise what a commitment the people on the station give to the community.

‘They give an awful lot of time and they are there for them when they need them. The families of the firefighters make a huge sacrifice too.’

Ian was presented with a long service medal from Devon and Somerset Fire Service last year commemorating 40 years of service.

He joined Okehampton Fire Service as a retained firefighter in 1976.

‘I wanted to do something for the community, something active and a friend suggested the fire service,’ he said.

He will be continuing to do some training and work on some special projects for the fire service on a part-time basis.

‘I’ll see how it goes,’ he said. ‘I may retire completely in 12 months!’