Meet Firefighter Colin Turner

A local mechanic who helped firefighters tackle field fires with his private fire engine will be on the frontline this summer as an on-call firefighter.

Firefighter Colin Turner from Wethersfield Fire Station completed his training in May after being inspired by his local crew last summer when they were tackling wildfires. This summer, he’ll be joining his colleagues on the frontline.

Colin, a mechanic in Wethersfield was able to use a Green Goddess fire engine he owned to help extinguish a field fire in Finchingfield last August.

He said: “I’d bought three fire engines after we had a fire at our site in 2007 so we could help to protect the site if we ever had another fire. Thankfully, we’ve never needed to use them ourselves but last year when there was a field fire nearby, a local farmer called to see if I could help with one of the Green Goddess fire engines.”

Colin rushed to the scene with his fully operational Green Goddess fire engine and was able to help put water on the fire from the fire engine. 

This incident reignited a dream Colin had always had, to become a firefighter.

“I’ve always wanted to be a firefighter and it’s always been in the back of my mind,” says Colin. 

“After seeing those field fires last year, that was the driving factor to apply. I went to Wethersfield’s drill night a week later and applied online that night. I’m glad to be able to give something back to the community, I’m really looking forward to the summer.”

Three quarters of Essex’s fire stations are crewed by on-call firefighters - people who live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station and are paid to protect their local communities. 

On-call firefighters are qualified firefighters who work on a different duty system to wholetime firefighters. Instead of being based at the fire station and responding to incidents when called, they can go about their daily business including full time employment outside of the fire service and respond to incidents when they are paged. 

All of the Service’s 500+ on-call firefighters live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station. 

If like Colin, you live or work within 5 minutes of an on-call fire station, you could be paid to protect your community as an on-call firefighter. 

Find out more about the role and how to apply at join.essex-fire.gov.uk/on-call