Firefighter honoured for valour

Brave@Heart award for Allan

A retired SFR firefighter was honoured with a national bravery award earlier this week.

Allan Rodgers was at an incident at the Levenseat  Waste Management site last May when he noticed a colleague had fallen into a tank. After his colleague was submerged twice, Mr Rodgers was able to prevent him going under again and help him out of the water.

He was presented with the Brave@Heart award by First Minister Alex Salmond on Tuesday during a ceremony at Edinburgh Castle - one of a group of 30 police officers, fire fighters, special constables and members of the public being recognised for exceptional bravery.

Allan, 54, who retired last year after serving at Lanark for 17 years and Hamilton for 13 years, said:  

"I was just doing my job as a firefighter and I never thought anything more about it. I saw someone in trouble and reacted. I've since been out for a drink with the guy I saved, who has now recovered, and he said that, if I hadn't seen him, he wouldn't have made it.

 "The Brave@Heart  award is a huge honour, but it was just another shout for me at the time and  did what any firefighter would do. "

Mr Salmond said:

"The Brave@Heart Awards recognise and celebrate people - like Firefighter Allan Rodgers - who have shown exceptional bravery. Some have battled the elements to save others, some have intervened to stop a criminal in the act and others have shown life-saving presence of mind.

"Allan and the other Brave@Heart award winners have risen to the challenge of the unexpected and shown the capacity to face and overcome danger in any number of forms. Each winner has stepped out of ordinary life and shown an extraordinary valour."