North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is getting involved with a national "Need More" awareness week which runs from the 7th January 2019 and aims to highlight on-call (or retained duty system) firefighter opportunities available in the fire and rescue service, while busting myths about what it takes to be a firefighter.

The campaign is supported by a national website www.oncallfire.uk which encourages people to get in touch with their local fire service, in January or anytime throughout the year.

An on-call firefighter is someone who responds to a range of fire and rescue service jobs; these range from emergency calls, working at open days, carrying out work with their local communities and acting as an ambassador for the fire and rescue service.

On-call firefighters come from every walk of life, including homemakers, shopkeepers, builders, farmers, office workers and directors of companies, together with people who are not currently employed. Full training is provided on an ongoing basis, therefore previous experience is not needed. An on-call firefighter could be called out at any time they agree to be available and the amount of calls they receive will vary.

To be an on-call firefighter, you must:

• Have a strong desire to support the local community.
• Be enthusiastic about working as part of a team.
• Have a reasonable level of personal fitness.
• Live or/and work within 5 minutes of your local fire station (in exceptional circumstances this response time can be extended).
• Be over the age of 18

Senior Recruitment Officer, Nicola Jones, says “On-call firefighters are a vital part of our Service and community. They are highly skilled and respected individuals who give up their free time, and often some of their work or family time, to carry out the professional role of firefighter.

“Whilst the commitment they make is massive, the reward and sense of achievement, skills and transferable training they receive makes it worthwhile.

“There’s no such thing as a typical firefighter, applications are welcomed from all sectors of the community - the Service recruits on merit and ability, so whether you’re male, female, short or tall, if you think you might have what it takes please visit www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk or www.oncallfire.uk to register your interest in the role and to find out more about taster events and open evenings.

“The Service is also keen to hear from community-minded employers who may be willing to release staff from their workplaces to protect their communities - we would like to provide information about the advantages of employing on-call firefighters such as health and safety and medical response training, as well as developing situational awareness, leadership skills and the ability to work under pressure.”

If you ‘Need More’ in life, visit www.nwales-fireservice.org.uk or www.oncallfire.uk .