Anniversary tributes paid to Wigan firefighter who was killed on duty

A ceremony has been held at a Wigan fire station to remember a local firefighter who was killed on duty 60 years ago.
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George Hamilton Maxwell died in a road smash after his fire engine got lost trying to find a blaze in Westhoughton on March 18 1962.

He was a member of the Lancashire County Fire Brigade based at Station Delta 65 – Hindley.

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And there was more than one reason why he might not have died that fateful night.

Fr Norman Price officiating at the ceremony at Hindley Fire StationFr Norman Price officiating at the ceremony at Hindley Fire Station
Fr Norman Price officiating at the ceremony at Hindley Fire Station

One was that he wasn’t supposed to have been on duty, but volunteered when he heard that there was a blaze at an address on Bolton Road, Wingates.

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The second is that after failing to find the address, the engine had the misfortune to be in collision with a lorry bearing overhanging girders which inflicted the fatal injuries on Fireman Maxwell at the White Horse junction on Manchester Road.

And the ultimate tragedy is that, due to a communications breakdown by either the police or fire brigade control, the crew had been sent to the wrong address and that the fire was actually at a property on Bolton Road, Bryn Gates.

Station Manager Chris Evans lays flowers at the front of the station.Station Manager Chris Evans lays flowers at the front of the station.
Station Manager Chris Evans lays flowers at the front of the station.
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Fr Norman Price, a retired priest from Westhoughton who still assists the Diocese of Liverpool when required and is a fire service partner with Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Cheshire fire services, officiated at a ceremony outside Hindley Fire Station on Borsdane Avenue.

He said: “It was a tragic and unfortunate series of circumstances which led to George’s death which makes it all the sadder, even 60 years on.”

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