National Association of Retired Firefighters - Durham & Darlington Branch

20/06/2026

Congratulations to Mandy Dixon who has been recognised by the King for her work to keep people safe from fire across the UK.👑

Mandy has been part of the fire service family for 37 years and her dedication has seen her presented with The King’s Fire Service Medal as part of The King’s Birthday Honours List 2026.

She started her career in Durham as a fire control operator answering emergency calls and then worked in Learning and Development, Business Improvement and Risk Information. 🚒

Five years ago, she joined the Home Office on secondment and has since played a key role in addressing communication challenges identified by the Grenfell Tower Inquiry.

The Group Manager has worked alongside the National Fire Chiefs Council to help develop national guidance for handling 999 calls and contributed to a system that distributes calls across fire control rooms during major incidents.

She also supported the rollout of Multi-Agency Incident Transfer across English fire services and now works with the Fire Service Operational Communications Team at The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

🗨️ Mandy, who remains on secondment, said: “I’m delighted and a little overwhelmed to have received the King’s Fire Service Medal.”

“Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to have worked alongside some amazing and dedicated people whose commitment makes a difference every day.”🫶

11/06/2026

We send our condolences to the family, friends and colleagues of PC Turnbull for the ultimate sacrifice in the line of public duty.

A police officer has tragically died in the line of duty after a collision in Northumberland.

PC Jess Turnbull was responding to a collision which occurred on the A189 Spine Road in Cramlington at about 11.10pm on Monday.

While at the scene, she was outside of a marked police vehicle when she was struck by a black Mercedes CLC which was unconnected to the original incident.

Jess was taken to hospital where yesterday, surrounded by her loved ones, she sadly died.

Jess, who was 19, joined the Force in September last year and worked on the response policing team in Northumberland.

Our thoughts very much remain with her family and those impacted by this devastating loss.

If you would like to leave a written tribute to Jess, you can do so by leaving a comment below.

15/05/2026

04/05/2026

Today is International Firefighters Day!

We celebrate Firefighters around the globe who place their lives on the line every day to protect our lives and property.

We thank the families of Firefighters who provide the necessary support to allow them to perform their duty.

We remember and give thanks for Firefighters throughout history who have lost their lives in the performance of their duty.

We send our deepest respects to the loved ones of Firefighters who are left behind after that loss.

Pictured in this post in St Florian, the Patron Saint of Firefighters.

Florian was a senior officer in the Roman Army in the 3rd Century. He was charged with organising and training Vigile Urbanis - the first organised Firefighting service.

Florian was also charged with seeking out Christians to be put to death in the area he commanded. Florian refused to do so as he was of the Christian faith himself.

In punishment, Florian was tortured, set fire to and eventually thrown into a river where he ultimately drowned.

St Florian was also attributed with performing the miracle of extinguishing a large fire with only a bucket of water which is depicted in images of him.

To all Firefighters on duty today - keep safe and we hope that your shift is ‘Q’.

23/04/2026

A brilliant evening catching up with familiar faces at The Bishop’s Mill tonight 🔥

More than 20 retired firefighters dropped in from near and far—some planned, some completely by chance—and the stories, laughs, and memories flowed all night. It just goes to show that once you’ve been part of the job, the camaraderie never fades.

Great to see everyone, and safe to say… we’ll definitely be doing it again 👨‍🚒🍻

02/04/2026

Does anybody remember Amos Howard?