Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue's 50-year milestone hopes to inspire next generation
The service is holding different events and activities to mark the occasion
It's hoped thanks to Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue's 50th birthday, more children in the county can be inspired to become a firefighter.
That's the aim for the service with different events and activities taking place to mark the anniversary this month.
Crews have been hosting events at stations and staff celebrating the milestone across the county.
Residents are also encouraged to get involved by leaving their comments and memories of the service in an online book available on the service’s website, as well as sharing any photos of interactions with crews over the years.
"They're role models for younger people"
Hayley Douglas is the assistant director of communications and engagement at the service:
"They're (firefighters) role models for younger people; they go into the schools, they talk about fire safety, so we're in there engaging with them and it's a nice way to involve them in what we're doing and get them thinking about the future," she said.
"Gone are the days of the image of firefighters sat in the fire station drinking tea and waiting for the calls to come in; they're out engaging with young people in schools, running road safety events, it's a very busy role."
"We can only work with the budget we've got"
"We've made millions of efficiencies over the last 10-15 years, so we can only work with the budget that we've got," she added.
"We have to balance that with every idea we have and how we can improve things; we have to look at how much it's going to cost and how we can find that money.
"New technology coming in I think will probably be one of the biggest factors for us; the technology that makes things more efficient, but we'll continue to do the best we can to deliver a great service."
More information on the 50 year celebrations can be found on the Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue website.