Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service has welcomed 8 new on-call firefighters to stations across the county. The group completed their phase one training course this weekend and has the core skills required to operate safely as a firefighter with their new stations.
On-call firefighters
They passed out on Sunday (December 15) in front of their proud friends, family, and training team at CFRS’s Training Centre in Huntingdon.
The celebration event rounded the 10-week course and each recruit was presented with a certificate from Head of On-call, Group Commander Karl Bowden who commented, “We’re delighted to welcome eight new recruits to the Service. On-call firefighters are such a huge part of our fire and rescue service, responding to a whole range of incidents, from fighting fires, attending road traffic collisions, or animal rescues to promoting fire safety."
commitment and dedication
Being an on-call firefighter is a challenging yet rewarding opportunity, and we wish them the very best"
“The latest cohort of firefighters have already demonstrated their outstanding commitment and dedication, not just to the fire service but to themselves and their communities. Being an on-call firefighter is a challenging yet rewarding opportunity, and we wish them the very best as they start their journeys here in Cambridgeshire."
“We rely heavily on the continued support of on-call firefighters and their families up and down the county, so I’d encourage anyone who’s interested in joining us to get in touch.”
New recruits
The new recruits have received their alerters, and are joining the following on-call stations:
- Whittlesey Fire Station – Daniel Fielding (20) joins the crew at Whittlesey alongside his role as a support worker.
- March Fire Station – Stacey O'Hara (30) is a personal trainer and joins the crew in March.
- Sutton Fire Station – Aviation firefighter Samuel Titmarsh (25) and building contractor Ashley Rayner (32) join the crew at Sutton.
- Kimbolton Fire Station – Service Manager Tony Sylvester (35) joins the crew at Kimbolton.
- Gamlingay Fire Station – Fabricator welder Reece Davis (23) joins the crew at Gamlingay.
- March Fire Station – Martin Rolt (19) joins the crew in March.
- Sawtry Fire Station – Ben Parker (22) is a warehouse operative and joins the crew at Sawtry.
Selection criteria
On-call firefighters are trained professionals who respond to emergencies in their communities alongside their day-to-day lives. They may be at home, work, or out and about when they receive a pager alert, and straight away they must jump into action and get ready to deal with any incident.
To become an on-call firefighter, an individual must be aged 18 and over, have a good level of all-around fitness, and live or work within five minutes traveling time of an on-call fire station.
