This is the proud face of a brave Southend firefighter who died with a colleague tackling a blaze in east London.
Diligent - Adam Meere joined station in May
Adam Meere, 27, of St Leonard's Road, Southend, died while helping to tackle the fire at a three-storey building in Willmot Street, Bethnal Green, yesterday morning.
He had moved to Southend from Bow a month ago with his girlfriend and had already shown "great promise" since starting as a firefighter at Whitechapel station in May.
His colleague, Bill Faust, 36, a father-of-three, also died as the pair fell three storeys when the floor they were on gave way.
Their station officer, Tony Sandeman, of Red watch, who also lives in Southend, would have normally been at the job as well but had taken the evening off.
He said: "Adam was a very diligent and amiable lad. To have a double tragedy like this is devastating. The mood at the station is very sombre and everyone is still very shocked.
"It is still very early days to prejudge what happened, but it looks like a tragic accident."
Firefighters across the country have expressed their condolences to the victims' families and friends.
Published Wednesday July 21, 2004
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