A man who has spent more than 30 years working to protect the public retires tomorrow.

Stephen Nunn, the fire station commander for Keighley and Silsden, said he was sad to be leaving “the best job in the world”.

“The difference between our job and many others is the teamwork and camaraderie that is involved,” he added. Everything we do, we do as a group. It’s something that is good for the community, which is rewarding.”

He joined the fire service after leaving school, in July 1979, and began working in Bradford.

He later became station commander for Shipley and Idle before moving to Keighley nearly three years ago. Among the memorable incidents he had responded to was the firebombing of Keighley’s Netto supermarket in 1995 and the floods of 2000.

He said: “Something that stands out in my mind was a fire at Arnold Laver’s Mill, in Bradford, in the early 1980s.

“Thanks to some good, aggressive fire fighting we were able to save half the mill.

“There were a lot of Government cuts going on at the time and one of the posters campaigning against these showed a fire engine with no wheels mounted on bricks. This poster was actually on a hoarding right outside that mill.”

He said fires in “traditional” older buildings had been easier to handle, as stone and wood was more predictable than modern steel girders.

He said today’s fire service was becoming increasingly complex, as personnel must undertake training in specialisms such as chemical decontamination. “I wouldn’t say things are worse for firefighters than they used to be but the risks have changed,” he said.

“When I joined we were just fighting fires — we dealt with very few car crashes.

“We now spend more time training because we’re got more roles than before.

“Working in Keighley has been challenging.

“It’s so diverse, with typical inner city problems in some areas. We also have moor fires and there have been three river rescues while I’ve been here.”

Mr Nunn, who lives in Denholme, said he was looking forward to having more free time in which to go fell walking.

He has plans to do voluntary work in a charity shop and hopes to become a school governor.