A DOUBLE victory is being celebrated at St Albans fire station following an awards ceremony for Hertfordshire excellence last week (24). As well as being crowned Best Fire Station of the year, St Albans watch commander Tony Bates was named Best Firefighte

A DOUBLE victory is being celebrated at St Albans fire station following an awards ceremony for Hertfordshire excellence last week (24).

As well as being crowned Best Fire Station of the year, St Albans watch commander Tony Bates was named Best Firefighter of the year at the Hertfordshire Excellence, Achievement, Recognition and Thanks (HEART) awards last Thursday.

Tony, 47, who has been working at the station for 13 years, was one of seven nominees for the prize which was awarded by Chief Fire Officer Roy Wilshire at a ceremony at the Beales Hotel in Hatfield on Thursday night.

Tony said that he was flattered to be nominated and added: "I wasn't expecting to get the award and, although it's nice to be recognised once in a while, whatever I achieve at this fire station is down to the team as a whole. What I'm most proud of is the award given to the station as a whole."

Tony said that he thought the St Albans team won because of their hard work outside the station: "I think we were victorious because of the initiatives we've taken with the local community. We're particularly proud of our School Safe - School Adoption Fire Education - scheme, which not only allows us to educate school children about fire safety, but also gives us a chance to make ourselves known to the locals."

He added: "Fire-fighting has changed a lot over the years that I've been at St Albans station; there's more of a focus on fire safety education, which I think is great. I enjoy meeting the locals and, as a firefighter, I believe it's important to make yourself accessible to the people.