Fire fighters wanted at Brewarrina
Are you a community minded Brewarrina resident with life experience, good health and seeking further employment and qualifications, as well as some extra money?
Brewarrina Fire and Rescue – Station 224 is on the lookout for new recruits.
Fire and Rescue NSW employs around 3300 highly trained, professional, on-call firefighters throughout NSW to respond to emergencies - some of whom work in our local region.
Brewarrina Captain Chris Frail is urging residents from all walks of life to consider joining the ranks and becoming an on-call firefighter at Bre.
“Your local fire station relies on people in the community to put their hand up to become firefighters – without that support, regional fire stations cannot survive,” Chris said.
Captain Frail said there was five recruit roles on offer.
Training for the role includes advanced first aid, heavy vehicle driving, and how to deal with emergencies such as fires, road accidents and hazardous material spills.
Bre’s Deputy Captain Sam Willoughby has worked for Brewarrina Fire Brigade for eight years and enjoyed the experience immensely.
“It’s fantastic. There is a diverse range of jobs and qualifications that you gain through being part of the brigade,” he said.
“It’s good to see how other stations and crew work together, and the range of jobs that you encounter is very diverse. The personal development side is great, as is giving back to your community.”
Mr Willoughby, who manages the local IGA store, said most retained firefighters had other jobs.
“Most of them are available during work hours, some are not,” he said. “You carry a pager and when an incident happens you get a phone call and respond to the station when you’re available. We then make up a crew of four, get on the truck and head to whatever the job entails for the day.”
“All that’s required to apply for these positions is a valid driver’s license and a reasonable level of fitness,” Mr Willoughby said.
There’s medical tests and physical aptitude tests as part of the process, but we’re all just normal people who are looking to help the community. We get to attend a diverse range of jobs and meet different people from all over.”
Captain Frail said on-call firefighters balance work and family commitments to respond to fires and other emergencies on an on call, part-time basis.
“Being an on-call firefighter does not mean that you have to be available every minute of every day,” he said. “Sharing availability with other on-call firefighters can reduce any potential impact on work and private life.”
Information sessions about becoming a retained firefighter at Brewarrina will be held at Brewarrina RSL Club on September 12th at the Brewarrina Station on Thursday 14th from 6-8pm and Saturday at Muddy Waters, from 10am to 12 where you can share coffee with a firefighter.
For further information visit www.fire.nsw.gov.au or contact Sam Willoughby directly on 0488 438 921.
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