More women are wanted to train as on call firefighters by Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service which is holding another “taster day” just for women on March 18.
Women who live within five minutes of one of Shropshire’s 23 fire stations are invited to attend the session at Bridgnorth Fire Station from 9.30am to 12.30 to see what life is like as a firefighter.
There are currently vacancies for on call firefighters at stations in Albrighton, Bridgnorth, Cleobury Mortimer, Craven Arms, Ludlow and Much Wenlock but recruits are constantly needed at all of the county fire stations.
Despite working as firefighters for decades, there are just 21 women out of a total of 500 firefighters in the county and the service wants to encourage more to join. These include wholetime firefighters based at Shrewsbury, Telford and Wellington fire stations and those on call from the county’s rural stations.
Visitors will be shown around fire appliances, get the chance to put on fire kit and try out breathing apparatus under instruction from the Bridgnorth crew.
At the taster session, candidates can talk to firefighters, learn about the recruitment process, tour the fire station and checkout the equipment.
80 per cent of Shropshire’s firefighters’ are “on call” and turn out in an emergency to protect their local communities.
“There have been women firefighters in fire stations in Shropshire and across the UK for many years but it is a career that many women generally don’t consider,” said Hayley Gazey, of the brigade’s Human Resources department.
“We provide training, support, promotion opportunities, excellent pay and conditions of service. If you want a rewarding career that is a little bit different then firefighting could be the job for you.”
Firefighters are physically fit and highly trained. They attend weekly training sessions to keep their skills up to date and are called out to deal with fires, floods, road traffic crashes, animal rescues, building collapses and any other major incidents.
For more information call 01743 260441 or turn up at the taster session in Bridgnorth on Saturday, March 18. For more information about what the job entails also visit the careers section at www.shropshirefire.gov.uk and fill in a questionnaire. Find us on facebook: http://facebook.com/shropsfire and follow us on twitter: http://twitter.com/shropsfire
