Warning: This story references the Grenfell Tower tragedy which some readers may find distressing.
For Rich Welch, family is everything. When he’s not at work in his role as Assistant Chief Fire Office with Avon FRS, he’s spending time with his partner, four sons and five grandchildren.
But family doesn’t stop at home for him. His 30-year career in the fire service – most of which was with London Fire Brigade – has led to him building a family at work too, and they’ve helped him through some of the most challenging moments of his firefighting role.
The toughest of those came in June 2017, when he was called to the Grenfell Fire tragedy. The scars from it stay with him today but, he says, our support in the months that followed proved life-changing.
For Rich, 53, it instilled in him the importance of talking to those around him – whether it be colleagues, family or Fire Fighters Charity – and he’s since passed that on to his youngest son, Jack, who is also now a firefighter with London Fire Brigade.
And both Rich and Jack are now sharing their stories in support of our Winter Appeal, which urges our supporters to donate this festive period to support other brave individuals in our fire services community, just like them.
“You spend all your time together – through the best moments, and the worst”
Rich always dreamt of becoming a firefighter, so when he joined at 23, he immediately felt at home.
Underlying his role was a deep sense of pride, knowing he was helping people. But equally there were long hours and hard work, with Rich’s first year involving 10 fatalities. Back then he learned to cope by relying on his crew.
“The camaraderie was the biggest thing,” Rich says. “You spend all your time together – through the best moments, and the worst. They become like a second family.
“I’ve been in fires where the floor above us has collapsed on top of us, but you don’t panic and run out, you pull debris off your team mate because you always stick together. You could be bickering while cooking a meal, and then next minute the bell goes and you’d literally die for each other.”
“You’re never off duty”
That fire family went on to help Rich through challenging times, including missed family birthdays, Christmases, and summer barbecues. He still remembers one Christmas vividly: due to come home on Christmas morning, he was instead called to a large fire in Piccadilly and only made it back to his sons late that evening.
He recalls: “It’s the disappointment on a young child’s face that’s the hardest part, when they’re expecting Dad to come home and he doesn’t. You’re never off duty. But that is quite often at the cost of your own personal life.”
Yet despite the sacrifices, Rich loved his work. “It’s not a job, it’s a lifestyle,” he says.
“They were literally willing to lose their own lives to save people”
Over the years, Rich climbed through the ranks to become a Group Manager and faced countless challenges along the way – but none came close to 14 June 2017.
He recalls being at home in bed when his pager went off, alerting him to the devastating Grenfell Tower fire.
“On the way there I could hear on the radio lots of calls coming for assistance, and they were really urgent voices – I distinctly remember that,” he says.
As the first Group Manager on scene, Rich declared a major incident. He went on to help lead the selfless crews and was on scene for 11 hours, having passed on overall control to an Assistant Commissioner at the time.
“I was blessed to be surrounded by some excellent officers and firefighters. The way that the firefighters worked together, the risks that they were willing to take to save people – they were literally willing to lose their own lives to save people in the tower,” he adds. “One of the biggest acts of selflessness that I saw on the night was when two firefighters carried a casualty out and, because of the falling debris, one of them took his helmet off and put it over the casualty’s face to protect them.
“That’s just a true reflection of a firefighter, that they would always put someone else first.”
“The bravest thing you can do is put your hand up and say, ‘I need help’”
The true toll of that night, however, came later and Rich struggled with his mental health in the months that followed.
“I saw a lot of my friends and colleagues really, really struggling within days of the incident happening… for me personally, I’ve always had a firefighter mentality, always thinking ‘it doesn’t affect me. I’m alright’,” says Rich. “But in reality, we can’t go through a whole career seeing what we see, doing what we do, and it not have any impact on us. And I thought I could, until Grenfell Fire happened. It was the straw that broke the camel’s back.
“I was having sleepless nights, I was waking up in the night screaming and shouting, reliving it. I found I had no patience with anything and I was really emotional. That’s when I realised I was struggling.
“It’s absolutely critical that people understand that the impact can hit down the line. Having been there, I really push the importance of talking to my son, Jack, now – it doesn’t matter who you talk to, whether it’s your friends, your mum, me, your Watch, the charity – just talk.
“No matter your rank, you’re not immune to trauma…. The bravest thing you can do is put your hand up and say, ‘I need help’.”
“Our service users, like Rich, are why we do what we do”
Whole Watches were invited to Harcombe House to spend time together following the tragedy, as our Head of Clinical Care, Nicky Patton, recalls:
“We combined psychological and physical support in group settings, helping individuals process the trauma of such a life-changing and significant event.
“That work shaped our Reset Programme, which is made up of group-based sessions covering everything from goal setting and managing stress to pool therapy and relaxation, tailored to individual needs.
“Our service users, like Rich, are why we do what we do. It’s a privilege to offer care and support when it matters most -and using my skills to change a life is a real gift.”
Rich went on to receive mental health support from us, including visiting Harcombe House a few months later with a close friend and colleague. And for him personally, it was a “game-changer”:
“It is really difficult to adapt back into normal life after such a significant incident. You feel like you’re on your own… that’s where the support from the charity is absolutely priceless.
“We were given the space to walk, talk, and be away from our normal lives. It gave me the chance to heal, to start moving forward again.
“The beautiful thing about the charity, I always say, is it’s always right there for you. It’s always with you.
“To have that opportunity to speak to somebody who understands the fire service, understands the fire sector, but actually isn’t closely connected with you, is a massive opportunity that I don’t think we use enough.”
“My grandkids and partner are my absolute world”
Now, Rich is determined to use his position as a senior leader to encourage others, including his son Jack, to speak openly about their struggles.
And for him, family is everything: “My grandkids and partner are my absolute world. They’re my light, no matter how dark life feels.”
Rich now hopes, by sharing his own experiences, he’ll encourage others to get in touch if they feel they’d benefit from our support.
“We join this job to help people, what we’re not so great at is helping ourselves,” he says. “So I think it’s really important to be able to recognise those signs in yourself when things are a little bit different or you are feeling down, and reach out.”
We also spoke to Jack about his memories of growing up with a dad in the fire service, and how he’s followed in Rich’s footsteps himself now…
Jack: “The hardest part when I was younger was not knowing how to help Dad when he was struggling”
Growing up with a parent in the fire service means living with lastminute shouts, missed birthdays, and unpredictable shift patterns.
For Jack Welch, however, those challenges were always outweighed by a huge sense of pride. Watching his Dad Rich serve as a firefighter not only filled him with admiration, it inspired him to follow in his footsteps and join the fire service himself.
As Jack says: “I’d heard all of Dad’s stories, and I was keen to start my own.”
Now a firefighter with London Fire Brigade himself, Jack has shared some of his experiences – alongside his Dad’s – to shine a light on the daily sacrifices made by firefighters, and why our support is so important for families like theirs.
“Difficult shouts can definitely carry through into your personal life, that’s unavoidable,” says Jack. “The hardest part when I was younger was not knowing how to help him in those moments… you’d try and make things better or fix it somehow, all before you’re really old enough to understand it.
“After Grenfell, Dad was in a real rough spot and was really struggling, but coming through the other side of it, he’s instilled in me the importance of talking and sharing – the earlier the better, rather than reactively, so I don’t end up down that same track,” says Jack.
That openness, which has only developed with time, has strengthened their bond hugely.
“I can tell him what’s happening with me and he understands it. No matter what it is. You can then build a lot of trust through shared experiences – I know we have.”
Jack recalls his Dad visiting Fire Fighters Charity at Harcombe House and how positive he was about his experience. He says, knowing we’re there for him too, is a comfort.
“It’s knowing you’re not alone in anything and there’s people around to help you through,” he says. “You never know when it might be you or someone you know needing that support, or feeling on a knife’s edge. I’d urge anyone to please, donate what you can.”