A COMMEMORATION is being held to mark 30 years since the death of a firefighter who lost her life tackling a blaze at a Staple Hill supermarket.
Fleur Lombard was 21 when she died on February 4 1996, as she and her colleagues fought to contain a fire started by an arsonist in the Leo’s supermarket in Broad Street.
Each year, on the anniversary of the tragedy, Avon Fire & Rescue Service personnel, retired firefighters, representatives of Fleur’s family, union and residents meet opposite the site to honour her memory.
Fleur was one of only eight women employed by the then Avon Fire Brigade. She had joined in 1994, earning the Silver Axe Award for the most outstanding recruit in training.
Fleur and her colleagues from Speedwell Fire Station, along with crews from Kingswood, were called out to tackle the blaze, which had been started deliberately by store security guard Martin Cody.
She and fellow firefighter Robert Seaman, who had gone into the burning supermarket together, were caught in a flashover, where all the exposed flammable material suddenly ignited inside the building.
Fleur died as a result of the intense heat, while Firefighter Seaman lost consciousness and was helped from the building before returning immediately with another firefighter, Pat Foley, to search for her.
Fleur was the first female firefighter to die on active service in peacetime Britain. She was posthumously awarded the Queen’s Gallantry Medal and Chief Fire Officer’s Commendation in recognition of her bravery.
Firefighter Seaman was awarded the George Medal and Firefighter Foley was awarded the Queen’s Commendation for Bravery.
Cody, who was on his first shift at the supermarket and had told a colleague he was bored before starting the fire, was later jailed for seven-and-a-half years, after being found guilty of manslaughter and arson.
In 2024 Fleur was one of the first public servants who lost their lives while on duty to be commemorated with a new honour, the Elizabeth Emblem, which was presented to her family by the King.
In 2019 a Great Western Railway train was named after her, and she is also remembered with a bursary fund set up to encourage fire service staff to travel the world to learn about the work of other fire services.
Staple Hill remembers Fleur at a wreath-laying ceremony each year at her permanent memorial outside Staple Hill Library, opposite the supermarket where she lost her life, which was rebuilt and is now run by Tesco.
Those attending this year are being asked to arrive from 12.30-12.45pm on February 4, before wreaths are laid and a minute’s silence is held at the ceremony, which starts at 1pm.
Avon Fire & Rescue, which organises the event, is asking people who attend to be respectful of the pavement and access around the memorial.