Waterford "very lucky" to have had firefighter who retires after 23 years
Alan Smith has retired from Waterford Fire Station after 23 years of service after completing 10 years of service with the Navy, during which time he completed a UNIFIL mission in Lebanon
Waterford Fire Station bid farewell to a longstanding member of the crew this week.
Alan Smith dedicated 23 years of his life to being a firefighter in Waterford, according to a post on social media by the Fire Station.
Before that he was in the Irish Naval Service for 10 years where he served as a Naval Rescue Diver.
During his Navy career, he went overseas and completed a UNIFIL mission in Lebanon.
Alan is big into sports and has completed a number of triathlons and marathons, including Iron Man.
He has represented Ireland three times at the World Police and Fire games.
While competing at these, he brought home four silver medals and two bronze ones.
Waterford Fire Service say they wish Alan a happy retirement.
A huge number of people have also expressed their well wishes for Alan, commenting on the Facebook post.
One person described the people of Waterford as "very lucky" to have had him.
Waterford Fire Service works around the clock emergency cover.
It attends an average of 1,500 incidents a year, ranging from fires, road traffic collisions, chemical spills and other emergency situations.
If you find yourself in an emergency, call 999 or 112.