FIREFIGHTERS and family of Fleur Lombard were joined by members of the public as they remembered her death in the line of duty.
Staple Hill fell silent at 1.04pm on February 4, as people gathered around the 21-year-old firefighter’s memorial in Broad Street marked the exact moment, 30 years earlier, when she was killed in a flashover.
Fleur died as she and her colleagues fought to contain a fire started by an arsonist in the Leo’s supermarket that stood on the site now occupied by Tesco.
Her memory is honoured every year on the anniversary of the tragedy, and this year Fleur’s father Roger, sister Bex Lombard-Earl and Bex’s youngest child Rowan travelled from the North of England to attend the ceremony, along with the unveiling of a red plaque in her memory at Kingswood fire station.
Bex said: “Thirty years on, the word that best describes how we feel as a family is overwhelmed – in the best possible way.
“This anniversary has brought with it an extraordinary outpouring of kindness, respect and care, not just towards Fleur’s memory, but towards us as the family who loved her long before the uniform.
“To see her remembered so thoughtfully, three decades on, is deeply moving.
“Everywhere we went, people came forward with stories. Not grand gestures — just memories.
“It reminded me that what has lasted isn’t the tragedy, but who she was.”
Among the moments Bex said she most valued were talking with firefighters Rob Seaman and Pat Foley, who went back into the burning building to find her sister after the flashover, and Jess Cole who, as a nine-year-old girl, was a vital prosecution witness in the court case against store security guard Martin Cody. He was jailed for seven-and-a-half years, after being found guilty of Fleur’s manslaughter and arson.
Bex said: “Jess’s steadfast determination and sense of justice have always reminded me so much of Fleur.”
She said she would never forget hearing Downend musician Gavin Ball perform a song at the ceremony that he wrote in memory of Fleur, telling the story of the day she died.
Fleur was based at the now-closed Speedwell fire station.
One of her colleagues there was Nikki Marshall, of Bromley Heath, who was on White Watch while Fleur served on Blue Watch.
They both joined the then Avon Fire Brigade in the same year, 1994.
Nikki, who organises friends and colleagues of Fleur to attend the memorials each year, said: “If I’m at work I lay yellow roses, which is what I laid on the day she died.
“It’s heartbreaking, but I think what’s incredible is that everybody still remembers every year – it’s something that will always go on.”
Barbara Hopton, of Downend, was a cook at Speedwell fire station and came to pay tribute to the firefighter she remembered as a “lovely lady”.
Chief Fire Officer Matt Cook said: “This is an opportunity for us to acknowledge the lasting impact Fleur’s courage and commitment has had on those she worked with and the local people she served.
“Fleur’s loss continues to be deeply felt across our service, within our communities, and across the wider UK Fire and Rescue Service.
“Her legacy will continue to inspire current and future generations of firefighters; her courage and selflessness will never be forgotten.”
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.
After Fleur’s death, a number of “significant improvements” were made to safety across the fire service that have helped save lives since.
She has had a Great Western Railway train named after her, and is also remembered with a bursary fund set up to encourage firefighters to travel the world and learn about the work of other fire services.
Bex said she was also “stopped in my tracks” to hear of a firefighter and his wife who had named their daughter Fleur, after her sister.
She said: “Thirty years on, Fleur is still remembered. Still honoured. Still shaping lives, learning, and care.”
