"It was a real privilege last night to be able to present commendations for two acts of incredible bravery and courage.  In July 2009 there was a very serious incident in Beswick, Manchester in which three people lost their lives.  Notwithstanding the self evident tragedy here, a number of people were saved.  There was a working smoke alarm in the property which undoubtedly bought precious time, and was a major factor, but equally important were the selfless acts of courage of members of the family and friends.  Indeed, one of the people who perished - Carly Swift - lost her life battling to save her younger brothers. So my commendations were to recognise Carly's courage and also that of Danielle Beale who similarly acted incredibly bravely and selflessly saving the lives of her friend's family - Sue, Carly's mum, accepted the award on behalf of Carly.

The commendation event took place in the fire station engine house and it was truly poignant and actually quite moving to be able to re-unite the people who suffered this tragic event with the operational crews who attended.  

Speaking to the crews they described this incident as one of the most difficult many of them had dealt with.  Notwithstanding the professional challenge, we can also easily forget the emotional aspect for the firefighters who deal with incidents as difficult as this one.  They literally battled (a bit of an overused media phrase but appropriate here) to bring the fire under control, and to rescue and revive the children involved.  So, it was also a good opportunity for me - and the family of course - to say thank you to them for their efforts and professionalism.  Speaking to the crews it was a helpful way of providing "closure" for them.

I really wish we didn't have evenings like last night and the work we are doing fitting smoke alarms will continue to ensure these become even more infrequent.  But fires will still happen and "some" tragedies will still occur - that is why we will always need a highly professional fire and rescue service.  But when these events do occur we should also ensure that we take the time to pause, reflect and show appreciation, for even in the midst of the most horrendous situations the humanity and courage of both professional firefighters and "ordinary" people like Carly and Danielle is really quite inspirational and leaves one reassured that we are all capable of so much more than we believe we are.