IT was the end of an era for Chagford?s chief fire officer this week as he retired from the service after 26 years.

Iain Rice, a writer and publisher, said he had very much enjoyed his time with the retained crew ? but was looking forward to a well-earned rest.

?I shan?t miss getting out of bed at 3am on a cold frosty morning for a smoke alarm ? it?s the people I shall miss,? said Iain.

?The retained fire crews are a unique association. You hear a lot about these things with the forces, but retained crews are even more personal because we?re all within the same community.

?We?re very much together all the time and anything that happens in our community is going to affect us ? nine out of ten times we get a call we know who it is,? he said.

?It can make it more difficult and it?s sometimes quite difficult to maintain a professional detachment.?

Iain said he had attended very many memorable call-outs during his 26 years ? but one which stuck in his mind was fighting a large fire at a country house at Ilsington.

?We were put to work at the top of this three-storey staircase, trying to knock down the fire. After a couple of hours the tea wagon turned up.

?We were only gone for about ten minutes but when we got back, the staircase wasn?t there any more. Someone was obviously thinking of us that day,? said Iain, who said he had experienced several ?near squeaks?.

?There have been the odd occasions when the old eyebrows have gone for a wander!? he said.

Iain also recalled the time when the Chagford and Moretonhampstead crews rescued a builder who had been buried when a 15ft deep trench collapsed on top of him.

The firefighters managed to get an oxygen tube down to the man and spent an hour trying to dig him out, using extra tools borrowed from a nearby hardware store.

He said he had never had occasion to rescue any damsels in distress ? or cats up trees.

?It could quite easily be a damsel rescuing you in distress these days!? said Iain.

Iain, who is 55, said he was looking forward to being able to go out for the day without making sure there was cover at the fire station ? and to being free of his ever-present bleeper.

A big send-off was organised at Endacott House in Chagford last Saturday, at which Iain was presented with an antique brass branch ? ?the business end of a hose? ? mounted on a plaque.