London firefighters have been honoured for their lifesaving and charity work at Buckingham Palace with the first garden party of the year. The celebration formed part of an event for frontline workers to thank them for their service and charitable endeavours, with Brigade staff recognised for both their work in London and internationally.<\/p>\n
Among the Brigade staff who attended the prestigious event was Leading Firefighter Steve Ladley<\/strong>. Steve was invited following his incredible rescue when a woman fell from the roof of house \u2013 Ladley caught her with one hand while hanging onto a ladder. Steve said: \u201cFirstly, I want to say my thoughts are with the residents who were severely impacted by the fire. There is not a day when I don\u2019t think about how incredibly lucky both they and I were to survive this horrific fire without serious injuries. I have been a firefighter for 20 years and never encountered a life and death situation like this. <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTwo residents were forced to flee via the skylight at the top of the house after an e-bike exploded downstairs and the blaze ripped through their home. On arrival one man had fallen to the ground while a woman was hanging from the roof window, two floors up. I pitched a nine-metre ladder, when I got to the top, she was overwhelmed by smoke and slipped down the slate roof tiles. Fortunately, just as she was about to fall over the edge of the roof, I caught her with one hand leaving the ladder at an unsafe angle. \u00a0Thankfully, my team below stabilised the ladder. I managed to guide the extremely panicked resident to an extension ladder which my colleagues had quickly erected.\u00a0 <\/p>\n \u201cI was genuinely honoured, and somewhat surprised, to be invited to this event. I have made my whole family proud. My children gave me strictest instructions to get a selfie with the King, while this was not possible, I was really pleased I could take my little sister Sarah with me.”<\/p>\n Other guests invited to the Palace included Station Commander Ian Simpson<\/strong>, the Brigade’s UK-ISAR coordinator, who was deployed to Mozambique to help rescue people who were hit by devastating floods at the start of the year. Ian said: \u201cGiven the large team of outstanding professionals that were deployed to Mozambique, the odds of being invite to something like this seemed quite remote. This makes the invitation even more special. <\/p>\n \u201cMy wife came to the event too. This was an important gesture since it is an acknowledgement not just for the work we do, but a thank you to those who stay behind and support us. This kind of deployment means time away from home – the impact on families is not always visible or recognised.\u201d<\/p>\n