Families' tributes to blaze death 'heroes'

Published on Thursday 8 November 2007 00:23

THE families of the four firefighters killed in a warehouse blaze yesterday paid tribute to the men described by their brigade as "heroes".

The bodies of three of the men - Darren Yates-Badley, 24, John Averis, 27, and Ashley Stephens, 20 - were retrieved from the vegetable packing plant on Tuesday after a five-day search operation.

Their colleague Ian Reid, 44, was rescued from the fire on Friday but died that night in hospital.

The family of Mr Stephens, who followed his father into the fire service, said: "Ashley was a wonderful loving father, fianc, son and brother and he will always be in our hearts.

"We are totally numbed by this event, which has left us devastated beyond belief for all the firefighters involved and their families."

The family of newly-wed Mr Yates-Badley, 24, said: "

We would like to thank everyone for their tributes, which have been a great comfort. We didn't realise the impact that Darren had on other people's lives and he is our hero."

Mr Reid's 11-year-old daughter Sophie said: "My dad would do anything for me ... I'll miss him being around all the time."

His widow Julie said: "Ian was very compassionate and caring about everyone, particularly those less fortunate than himself.

"Ian will be missed so much. This is a huge loss to everyone who knew him."

Mr Averis's elder brother Paul said: "John touched a lot of people in his life. My phone has not stopped ringing and none of us realised how many people his life had touched."

Warwickshire's chief fire officer, William Brown, said:

"These professional men were doing their job of controlling a raging fire - with a tragic outcome - but their actions remain those of heroes."