After joining the service in 1992 and becoming fire chief in 2012, Mr Le Page reflected on his career in Guernsey and the danger and excitement that has come along with it.
The first of a few near-death experiences came just three months into his new job as a firefighter, in his first real engagement.
‘It was November 1992 and we were chasing an arsonist around the island, and he was setting fire to packing sheds and vineries.
‘Growers were accommodating their visiting workers in packing sheds and somebody was going around setting fire to them, going from one to the next,’ he said.
‘I heard a fizzing sound and thought someone was tapping on my head, but later on we found the bottom of a gas cylinder 100m buried in a hedge.
'The top end was still in the vinery, and there was a big mark on my helmet where it had skimmed past.
‘If my head had been slightly over, it would have taken my head off, so that was a moment three months in that was a small incident but was a stand-out moment that I’ll never forget.’
But not all of his wild experiences took place on land, and Mr Le Page had a few call outs on the water to fires on board ships.
When he attended a fire on cargo vessel Kukawa, he was helicoptered out to the alight ship and was lowered to the water level.
‘We couldn’t be lowered onto the deck of the ship, we had to be lowered onto the deck of the lifeboat and climb a ladder up the side of the ship,’ he said.
‘By the time I got to top of the ladder I was ready to fall off, I thought I was going to go into the sea, but out of nowhere one of the crew grabbed me and pulled me on the deck. It was like a guardian angel. We were on that ship for 24 hours.
‘It’s things like that that are exciting and dangerous and I feel so privileged to have been part of the crew that could go out and do those things, because I never would have been able to do that as a mechanic.’
Entering retirement, Mr Le Page is looking forward to being able to take a step back and not be brought to action at the sound of sirens.
He has children who live in Canada and previously has been going out for a fortnight at a time to see them.
‘We’ve got grandchildren there now and I’m looking forward to some extended holidays to Canada so we can spend some time seeing the next generation of Le Pages,’ he said.
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