Gorgeous tribute by Tyne and Wear firefighters for Remembrance Day wows the world

A Remembrance Day memorial created by firefighters has been getting international attention.
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The striking image, showing a firefighter wielding a hose spraying red poppies, was created by the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) communications team to mark this month’s Armistice Day event

And since the work, titled ‘Forever Grateful’, was shared with the world on Saturday it has gathered hundreds of likes and shares across social media, with fellow firefighters in Australia even requesting to use the creation for their own commemorations.

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“It’s just something that we do as part of our comms team, to come up with creative ideas, we sat down with the photographer to see what we could come up with,” said Irem Haq, corporate communications advisor with TWFRS.

“The year before last we had a video that went viral and we wanted to show our support again as a fire service.

“What we do is put out fires, so we decided the water coming out of the hose would be poppies instead – we try to keep things simple but also have an effect.

“Since then, Fire and Rescue New South Wales, in Australia, contacted us to ask if they could use the image and it’s gone a bit viral, which is good.”

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Firefighters in New South Wales are currently battling bushfires which have forced thousands to flee their homes.

The Remembrance Day memorial created by the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue ServiceThe Remembrance Day memorial created by the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service
The Remembrance Day memorial created by the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service

Irem and other from the comms team came up with the idea on Thursday and created a chicken wire structure to attach poppies made of ‘tissue paper, crepe paper and any other red paper we could find’.

The next day a trainee firefighter was recruited for modelling duties while pictures were captured by the fire service’s official photographer, Samantha Nicholson.

Firefighters, trainee firefighters and other service staff gathered at TWFRS HQ, in Washington, and at the brigade’s other stations, at 11am today to mark 101 years since the end of WW1 with a minute’s silence.

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Only the second batch of new recruits to the service since 2010 are currently going through their training.

On Friday, fire chiefs for Tyne and Wear, Durham and Northumberland confirmed they would soon be opening taster sessions to sound out potential recruits for its third in-take.