Do you have what it takes to be an on-call fire fighter?
WEST YORKSHIRE Fire Service is on the hunt for new recruits for their on-call firefighting teams.
On-call firefighters deal with incidents such as property fires, road traffic collisions and flood damage.
They dedicate 50-120 hours of their time each week to protect our local community.
They have to wear a pager, and be ready to leap into action when duty calls.
Spencer masters, from Mythomroyd, has been an on-call firefighter for five years.
“One time I was getting my hair cut, it was quite long at the time and I asked the barber for a number one.
“He’d managed to shave half my head when my alert went off andI had to run through town,” said Spencer.
Postman Richard Gordon, or ‘Flash’ to his friends, is an oncall firefighter in Mirfield.
“I’m really proud to live and work in Mirfield, it’s a really nice community. You often know the person affected by an incident so you can add an increased personal touch to your response.”
The local stations pride themselves on being active and compassionate in their communities.
“There was a local man who wasn’t very well and in a wheelchair. He wanted to see his daughters new flat but he couldn’t get up and down the stairs.
“We went along and carried him in his chair, they had a little party and we carried him back down again. It’s not something that we would usually do, but they came to us because they didn’t know who could help them.
“It’s days like that make you go home and think you’ve done a good thing,” said Mythomroyd firefighter Amanda May.
West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is asking employers to give their staff to flexibility to become on-call firefighters.
Danny Clark and Ross Martin both work for Microsearch in Mytholmroyd.
“I think it’s really important for local businesses to be more flexible.
“The Mytholmroyd station covers a huge area and we do rely on the on-call team. It can be hard for employers as you could be losing an employee for a couple hours a week, but it shows that your care about your community and its safety,” said Danny.
Newcomer and PE teacher Ben Barker said: “Up until recently I never had the time to be able to.
“In my old job I worked a lot of hours on different shift patterns, but my current job has allowed me to dedicate some time here,” said Ben.
“If you’re thinking it’s something you might like to do, my message would be to give it a go, regardless of age or experience.
“You learn loads of skills, get to work with a great group of people and get to protect the fantastic community here – it’s brilliant,” said Richard.
‘You often know the person affected by an incident, so you can add an increased personal touch’
WHAT DO YOU THINK
What do you think employers should do to support on-call firefighters?
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