All except for rookie fireman Lyndon Loweth.

He was already inside with his kit on.

"That's how keen I was," he said.

But no fireman stays inexperienced for long.

Two weeks later Lyndon was in the first team in an unsuccessful attempt to rescue a child from a house fire.

Yet the commanding officer of Knutsford Fire Station didn't have his heart set on becoming a fireman.

At 18, family connections led to a course in dental technology, a career which ended more or less when it began.

He then started with a chain of jewellers and was well on the management ladder when one day he walked past his fire station.

"I saw them training and I thought 'That looks an interesting job'."

Lyndon, recently-married, went in, had a chat with the crew and was sold on the idea immediately.

Signing up for the 15-week training course raised a few eyebrows at work.

"They were quite surprised," he said. "But quite a few people said it was more in my line. I like to be more active."

His ambition, however, was tested by the training.

"After the first four weeks I wondered whether I had done the right thing," he said. "I'd never worked so hard, physically and mentally, in my life."

His career began at Crewe, where he still lives, followed by a promotion to Macclesfield. Lyndon then moved to the training department in Chester before becoming a fire safety inspector.

A year and a half ago he arrived in Knutsford to take over as station commander.

Despite its tranquil nature, Knutsford is at the centre of a region which can experience chemical fires and motorway pile-ups.

As a flexible duty manager, Lyndon, 40, is on call permanently and must attend every car crash where someone is trapped and every fire which needs two engines - anything that needs a supervisory role from Knutsford to Congleton and Holmes Chapel to Macclesfield.

Lyndon was the first senior officer to reach the helicopter crash which claimed the life of Matthew Harding, Chelsea FC's vice-chairman.

For the serious situations a senior officer has a clearly defined objective.

"The first thing you have got to look out for is the safety of individuals," said the father-of-two. "Is there anyone in there who needs to be rescued or in danger or are my personnel safe from danger?

"My primary role is to save life then it's the preservation of property."

Incidents where lives are lost or injuries occur can take their toll on the men and women of the service. Only by doing the job can they stay calm under pressure.

"During the incident you're so focussed on the work at hand and what you need to do that nothing comes in your head," he said. "It's afterwards that you can reflect on what's happened."

Nor does tragedy come at convenient intervals. A quiet spell can be followed by four nights of calls which can test a fireman's mental strength.

But the closeness of the family-like team at Knutsford means every traumatic call is discussed around the 'brew table' back at the station.

"We talk the incident out and get it out of our system and ensure that an individual doesn't dwell on it," he said.

"It's an automatic thing - we do it without thinking about it. If we didn't have that relief things would build up and it would be impossible to do our job properly."

It's still a physically dangerous job. "On a lot of occasions you don't know what's through the door," he said. "The biggest danger is the unknown."

After one serious fire at an office block, Lyndon's team discovered six Calor gas cylinders - swollen by the heat like footballs.

The strength of the individual, especially in car crashes where the need to get someone out quickly has to be balanced with keeping them stable, is always the strength of the team.

"There could be the best part of 100 years' experience," he said. "You listen and quite often it will spark the idea of how you're going to do the rescue."

Another vital facet to the job, and a testament to the varied role of the fire brigade, is a sense of humour.

One of his first jobs involved righting a horsebox which had overturned on the hard shoulder of the M6.

Lyndon's job was to put his arms around the horse's neck while his colleagues shifted the box. Unfortunately the agitated animal had other plans.

It bolted out of the box and down the hard shoulder - with the young fireman hanging on for dear life.

He ended up on the tarmac and the horse was found in a field placidly munching daisies.

On another occasion he and his colleagues from Macclesfield were called to a lady's house in the ever-so-smart village of Prestbury.

"At the front door there was smoke coming through the house and around her ears," he said. "She said: 'The fire's in here, but take your boots off first'."

As covering officer, it's Lyndon's job to investigate the 'special service call' - or non-emergency.

"I've had situations where someone's water tank has burst. It's all been switched off but it's at 3.30am when they are their lowest," he said.

"There's nothing we can do but if we sit with them and have a cup of tea, that's what they need."

If Knutsford Fire Brigade can help the public, then they will do it - a part of the job Lyndon enjoys.

"In all the years I've been in the brigade, I've never once wanted to leave," he said.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.