Fire Service welcomes six new firefighters

Six new on-call firefighters have been welcomed into Essex County Fire and Rescue Service after completing their basic training course at the Service Training Centre in Witham. 

The new recruits all live or work within five minutes of an on-call fire station and will respond to incidents when paged. They will be heading to Braintree, Brentwood, Dunmow, Hawkwell and Manningtree fire stations.

The team completed their two-week intensive training course on Friday 17 November and will continue their training at their home stations. 

Rick Hylton, Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive said: 

“We’re so proud to be welcoming a new cohort of on-call firefighters who are making a huge commitment to protecting their communities. 

“Our on-call firefighters play a vital role in helping us to make Essex a safer place to live, work and travel. I’ve been so proud to welcome lots of new recruits this year and look forward to working with them all throughout their careers.”

More than three quarters of fire stations in Essex are staffed by on-call firefighters. They all live or work within five minutes of the fire station and are paged when there is an incident. This means they can go about their daily business working or spending time in their community while helping to keep the fire station available when needed. 

As well as responding to incidents, on-call firefighters also carry out home fire safety visits, attend community events and visit community hubs like schools and care homes to give safety advice. 

If you live or work within five minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be paid to protect your community as an on-call firefighter. 

Find out more by searching “Join Essex Fire”.