The fate of four volunteer firemen who responded to a 999 call to a Warwickshire warehouse fire on Friday has sent shock-waves through the small market town of Alcester.

As hundreds of friends, relatives, colleagues and even strangers packed into St Nicholas' Church in Alcester last night, each was reminded of the dangers firefighters face every day.

Retained officer Ian Reid was pronounced dead after the blaze at a vegetable packing centre in Atherstone-on-Stour, while three of his colleagues - Ashley Stephens, Darren Yates-Bradley and John Averis - are still missing, feared dead.

Canon David Capron, vicar of St Nicholas' Church in Alcester, told of how he spent hours with their loved ones as they awaited news at the town's fire station on Friday night.

Before leading the church's annual memorial service, Canon Capron said: "People were just waiting to find out the latest about the missing men - they were hugging, kissing, just comforting one another.

"I've not had to deal with anything like this before, I mean we've had the floods in the summer, but this is a really hard time for everyone in the town.

"This incident has brought tensions back to the surface about how dangerous their job can be. Tonight's memorial service couldn't be more timely following this tragic incident."

Last night the Mayor of Alcester, Councillor David Hancox, said the missing firefighters "were at the forefronts of everyone's minds. I wouldn't call Alcester a town, we're more of a family, and as such we're in a state of shock and grief right now," said Coun Hancox.

"There is still a small flicker of hope that the three missing firefighters will be found alive, for their families, we've just got to hope for a positive outcome to all this.

"Of the three lads who are still missing, two of them live and work in Alcester, and they're at the forefronts of everyone's minds at the moment."

He added: "All our firefighters are volunteers, and as such in a rural market town like Alcester, the community relies on them.

"They are very valuable members of the community, and so we've been hit very hard. We've definitely had better years."

Last night chief officers said the search could take at least 36 hours and teams may need to shore up the building in Warwick-shire before probing the more dangerous parts.

Organisational psychologist Dr Patrick Tissington, who is based at Aston Business School and worked with fire services across the country, explained the firefighters' colleagues "will want to learn from this".

He said: "The fire service is a family and losing a colleague and friend is going to be like losing a close relative, and the closer the bond the more keenly they will feel it.

"However it is obsessed with safety so, as a result, this will be raising all kinds of questions as to why it happened.

"Their colleagues will want to learn from this, to make sense of what happened, in order to get some answers.

"They know what their mission statement is: 'To save lives and preserve property', in that order, and as such will realise it's pointless trying to blame people."

Warwickshire Fire Brigades Union last night confirmed it would be "fully involved" in any investigation into the fatal blaze.

Steve McGuirk, president of the Chief Fire Officers' Association, paid tribute to the four firemen last night.

He said: "Every time our firefighters are called to an incident they put their lives on the line.

"The commitment and courage of these Warwickshire firefighters to that duty cost them their lives."