Firefighters needed at Bourke and Brewarrina

Bre fire fighters Deputy Captain Sam Willoughby, Roger Peattie, Captain Chris Frail, and Mattie Simpson are looking for new recruits. Photo supplied

Story: Kristin Murdock – kmurdock@outbackradio.com.au

Fire and Rescue NSW is calling for new on-call firefighters in Bourke and Brewarrina, with recruitment opening on Monday 2 February and running for three weeks.

Brewarrina Fire and Rescue Captain Chris Frail said the local brigade was looking to fill around four positions and that on-call firefighting was designed to work alongside other employment and family commitments.

“There’s an availability system, so you don’t have to be available 24 hours of the day - you register the times that you can respond,” he said.

“Most firefighters have other employment, and most employers are flexible. If it’s a big job, they’ll let you go, but if it’s something small there’s usually other crew members who can deal with it.”

In Bourke, Deputy Captain Chris Morrall said the station currently had six vacancies, with capacity for up to 16 firefighters and echoed Mr Frail’s sentiments.

“Firefighters all have full-time employment, so we don’t expect you to show up all the time, work and family commitments come first,” Deputy Captain Morrall said.

On-call fire stations are not staffed 24/7, with firefighters only responding when a call comes in and only if they have marked themselves available at that time. The impact on employers is generally minimal, with most rural towns receiving only one or two call-outs a week, often lasting less than an hour.

Deputy Captain Morrall said employers also benefited from having staff trained in emergency response.

“You learn skills that can be transferred into your day-to-day job,” he said.

Those skills include emergency management, risk, and safety awareness, first aid, and helping create safer workplaces.

On-call firefighters receive a fortnightly retainer, an hourly rate when responding to incidents or attending training, as well as annual leave, sick leave, long service leave, and superannuation.

“We also do paid training twice a month at the station,” Deputy Captain Morrall said.

Recruitment is open to men and women aged 18 to 65 who live and work within a reasonable distance of the station. Applicants will undertake an interview, medical assessment, and fitness test.

“The fitness test takes about 30 to 40 minutes and checks standard fitness and the capacity to handle equipment,” Deputy Captain Morrall said.

Successful applicants will then attend fully paid training, including two one-week training blocks at a Fire and Rescue NSW training centre.

Applications close Sunday 22 February 2026. More information can be found at fire.nsw.gov.au/on-call, by contacting the local station, or by calling 02 5853 2300.