A ‘MOVING memorial’ was held to honour heroic Herefordshire firefighters.

Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service firefighters as well as relatives gathered in Hereford last Wednesday (September 6) to remember the two firefighters who lost their lives in a fire at Sun Valley thirty years ago.

The fire started in a unit for defrosting meat. Insulation panels in the factory ceiling meant smoke and flames travelled unnoticed through the roof space, setting fire to ceilings which collapsed.

At the height of the blaze 130 firefighters using 23 pumping appliances were at the scene of the fire at a factory in Hereford on 6 September 1993.

Among them were David Morris, who was 35, and John Davies, who was 34, who never made it out of the factory.

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At 11.44am, exactly 30 years on from the time of the call about the fire, crews held a parade at Hereford Fire Station in St Owen Street.

Then at the Lady Arbour Garden at Hereford Cathedral in the afternoon there was a memorial parade, and a wreath was placed at the memorial plaque which was unveiled in May.

HWFRS chief fire officer Jon Pryce and Hereford & Worcester Fire Authority vice-chairman Roger Phillips gave speeches at the well-attended, moving tribute by the cathedral.

CFO Pryce said: “I hope that the many who visit this garden in the next 30 years will also take the time to honour John and David as we are doing.

"Hereford & Worcester Fire and Rescue Service has not forgotten them and we never will."