THE 45-year career of a Haverfordwest firefighter has been honoured with a special certificate.

In recognition of his 45-year career with the Fire and Rescue Service, and upon his retirement from Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service, Firefighter Gerwyn Howells has been presented a Certificate of Service by Chief Fire Officer Chris Davies QFSM.

Gerwyn first joined, the then Dyfed Fire Brigade, as an on-call firefighter at Whitland Fire Station in 1974, before becoming a wholetime firefighter at Haverfordwest in 1978.

During his tenure, which has spanned across five decades, Gerwyn became a member of the United Kingdom Fire Service Search and Rescue Team (UKFSSART), which has now evolved to the International Search and Rescue (ISAR).

Through his role with ISAR, Gerwyn has been deployed overseas on many occasions to provide aid in regions that are experiencing natural or manmade disasters.

In 1999, Gerwyn was deployed to Turkey following an earthquake that would claim the lives of over 17,000 people. He was also a member of the international aid effort to assist displaced refugees from Albania, during the conflict with Serbia, where he was stationed in Macedonia for five weeks to distribute aid to the refugee camps.

In 2010, Gerwyn lead MAWWFRS’s Urban Search and Rescue Team that was deployed to Haiti following the tragic and destructive earthquake that struck the country.

Despite retiring as a firefighter, Gerwyn will continue in his role as a lead coordinator for MAWWFRS’s Colour Party, which involves organising the attendance of the Colour Party at all functions requested by the Chief Fire Officer.

Gerwyn retired from his post as a wholetime firefighter in 2015 but continued to serve Haverfordwest and its surrounding communities as an on-call firefighter until August 2019.