THE Wee County's most well-known firefighter, who has been behind numerous successful safety initiatives, retired last week.

Though Alan Faulds finished his last day at Alloa Fire Station on Tuesday, May 4, Clacks will still benefit from his dedication for some time to come as he plans to continue his safety and charitable activities as a volunteer.

Alan spent nearly 30 years in the service, latterly as local fire liaison officer, and has been a driving force behind campaigns such as Safe Drive, Stay Alive.

The 55-year-old is looking back at the past 28-and-a-half years with a sense of achievement and pride.

Alan said: "I firmly believe that the fire service is a group of people who are, when you go out to a call, all working together to save someone's life.

"I don't think life gets much better than that; there's people walking about knowing the fire service saved their life and it's fantastic.

"It's not just down to one person, you work as a crew."

In the latter part of his career, Alan has been with the community safety team working across Clacks and Stirling.

Taking forward campaigns such as Safe Drive and various fire safety initiatives, has given him "immense pleasure" over the years as he feels it has made a real difference.

The proof is in the figures and statistics over the years.

"Big fires, fire injuries and fire deaths are on the decrease, which is fantastic", he explained.

"Especially across the areas we worked in, Clacks and Stirling, they are very rare events now and I think that's definitely down to things like community safety initiatives and the information the fire service as a whole gives across."

A clear low point in his career was the tragic loss of colleague and friend John Noble, who died when a fire engine crashed in 2008.

However, the events of that day inspired Alan to prevent other tragic incidents through Safe Drive.

He said: "Prior to Safe Drive starting you are looking at anything between five and eight young people dying in a year in the 16-24 year old age group.

"Since that, most years you are looking at, at the very most, one or two injuries, but very few deaths in that age group.

"When I look back, I look back with a whole sense of pride, working in a department that actually affects change in people's behaviour and being involved with Safe Drive, which clearly educates young people and saves their lives."

The firefighter has also been working with young people across the area through various initiatives such as Oor Clacks Voices, corporate parenting through the council, school talks and much more.

He is proud to have helped young people turn their lives around, securing opportunities and jobs.

Alan confirmed he will still be running Safe Drive, will remain involved with corporate parenting activities and will continue volunteering with Oor Clacks Voices.

He is also chair of anti-domestic violence charity White Ribbon Scotland and will continue working with organisations such as the Resilience Learning Partnership and Who Cares? Scotland.

Alan joked: "I'm still going to be about, you don't get rid of me that easily!"

He added: "The thought process of a firefighter leads you to that: you want to help people and I don't want that to stop because I've retired."