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NORTHAMPTONSHIRE fire service is looking to recruit more retained firefighters – but what does the role involve? Features editor Joni Ager looks at some of the incidents retained firefighters tackle.
Calls to 999 to report a blaze could easily be answered by part-time firefighters.
Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue is made up of a network of fire stations, some staffed by full-time crews, while others have a retained, or part-time, crew.
These retained firefighters have jobs but if a 999 call comes in, they have to drop everything and get to the station.
They are also on stand-by in the evenings and at weekends to cope with any emergency fire calls.
Northamptonshire has a number of vacancies for retained firefighters across the area, particularly for people who can be available in the day, and the Evening Telegraph has been running a campaign to find some new recruits.
Mick Berry, who is responsible for recruiting retained firefighters for the north of the county, says the Evening Telegraph campaign has been a success so far.
He said: "A few people contacted us from Corby but there is no retained crew there and we did get some who lived more than five minutes away from a station so we couldn't use them.
"But it has been a pleasing response and the Evening Telegraph campaign has worked and certainly raised the profile of retained firefighters."
There are four retained crews in north Northamptonshire – Kettering, Rothwell, Desborough and Burton Latimer.
Burton Latimer is one of the busiest crews, responding to 216 calls in the past year.
The crew covers a certain geographical area and if there is an incident reported within that area, the retained crew will be the first pump dispatched.
The retained crew may also be called to an incident in Kettering, for example, if the full-time crew is already dealing with another fire.
Mr Berry added: "If it is a large incident they could get called anywhere in the county or to be on stand-by at another station."
The fire service has to be mindful of retained firefighters' day jobs and if they are at an incident for more than four hours, the service will try to release them and bring in another crew to take over.
So what type of calls does a retained crew deal with?
In the past week Burton Latimer's retained firefighters have been called out to a chimney fire, three road accidents, two thatched roof fires and to provide reinforcement at Corby fire station.
Mr Berry said: "They can be the first pump to any incident and they deal with a wide range of calls.
They had a few flooding incidents in the summer, chemical incidents and animal rescues. Road traffic accidents are unfortunately common. I went to one with the Burton Latimer crew earlier this year which involved two vehicles on a country road.
"The woman driver was trapped by her legs and the Burton Latimer crew set up the cutting equipment. They tend to work in a team – where they all have a specific role, the goal being to extract the casualty and get them into the care of a medic.
"They did successfully get the casualty out and fortunately her injuries were not life-threatening, only broken bones.
"People in the past have thought retained firefighters are just about backing up the full-time crews but that isn't the case. They will go out to anything we are called to."
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Weather for Kettering
Sunday 12 February 2012
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