JIM Courtney, who has died aged 85, was a lifetime Bournemouth resident who served as a firefighter, councillor and mayor.

In the fire service, he tackled huge heath blazes in the summer of 1976, and on Bournemouth council he became the first mayor of the new millennium.

Born in one of the ex-servicemen’s “homes for heroes” at Throop, Hampton James Courtney went to Charminster School, now Bishop of Winchester Academy.

He did his national service with the Royal Air Force, joining its fire service and spending time in Iraq and Egypt. Afterwards, he worked for Vickers Armstrong at Bournemouth airport, in its fire and security service.

He went on to a 30-year career in Dorset's fire brigade.

He was seconded to Cornwall to deal with the Torrey Canyon oil spill in 1967. In 1976, he fought the heath fires that broke out in sweltering heat, and the Bournemouth bus station blaze that July.

Speaking years later about the heath fires, he said: “The difficulty was the firefighters had taken such a beating that those officers on duty were practically on non-stop and it was difficult to get relief.

“To see tanks used to make fire breaks was very unusual.”

His son Alan recalled: “I was about 14 and we wouldn’t see him for two or three days. It was in the days when you tried to tune your radio to pick up their frequency and see where he was.”

Jim fought the fire at the Royal Bath Hotel in 1979 and, in 1983 he was among the rescuers of a 23-year-old man who was dragged from a burning car which hit a tree in Queen’s Park Avenue.

He retired as a divisional officer in 1986 and was elected as a Conservative councillor for Muscliff the following year, serving until 2007 and sitting on the planning, housing and personnel committees.

He was a governor of Epiphany School, sat on Dorset’s fire authority and was a patron of the Bournemouth War Memorial Homes near his birthplace.

He became mayor for 1999-2000 and was responsible for welcoming the Labour conference to the town for the first time since 1985.

The event made headlines when party officials scrapped the mayor’s traditional welcome speech, for fear the Tory would criticise the government. Those who knew the councillor realised he was unlikely to do more than extend a friendly welcome, and he took part in a photo opportunity with Tony and Cherie Blair outside the Highcliff Hotel.

That same week, the mayor turned up at the Pavilion in the mayoral limousine and full regalia, accompanied by a government minister, but was turned away by police because he had forgotten his security pass. "It was my own fault for not having the pass," he said.

In 2002, Jim revealed he had the rare condition Wegener’s granlomatosis, which caused sudden renal failure, but did not complain when told he was too old for a kidney transplant at 69.

"There are a lot of very young people with kidney failure, some in their teens, and they’re the ones that should get the transplants,” he said.

“I’d like to live longer but if there’s a shortage of resources, one should look to the younger generation.”

Jim Courtney loved Bournemouth Symphony Orchestra from his teenage years, when he regularly saw Rudolf Schwarz conduct concerts at the Winter Gardens.

He was a lifelong AFC Bournemouth fan who took his family to matches and was proud to have played his part in the fan appeal to save the club.

“He saw them in the Premier League on TV but was too ill to get to the ground,” said Alan.

“One of the last things I said to him was, ‘At least you’ve seen Bournemouth get to the Premier League’, which none of us thought we’d see.”

He was a fan of cricket and horse racing too. Alan said: “He was very successful as a punter. He’d do these doubles and trebles and win £200-£300 for a pound. He was watching racing right up until the day he passed away."

Alan said his father was "Bournemouth through and through", adding: “With the rest of the fire brigade, he was involved in saving a lot of people’s lives and I’m very proud of what he did.

"He worked very hard for people in his ward when he was a councillor. He never had any interest other than trying to give back to the community.”

Jim leaves Janice, his wife of 58 years, son Alan, daughter Christine and two grandchildren, Matthew and Hannah.

His funeral is on Monday, August 20, 11am, at Bournemouth Crematorium, with donations to the War Memorial Homes, whose flag was at half-mast after his death. Donations can be made at memorygiving.com/jimcourtney