ANYONE who watched TV in the 90s, would have seen the job characterised by the cast of popular TV drama London's Burning.

For little ones, it is the escapades of Pontypandy's Fireman Sam which shape their vision of the role. But real life is often a far cry from how it is represented on the small screen. 

And residents of Cumbria are being invited to discover how - by seeing if they have what it takes to become a real life firefighter.

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service has launched an ambitious recruitment campaign in a bid to attract people from all walks of life to sign up to become on-call firefighters.

One station in need of new recruits is Walney, which has eight firefighters but has scope to take on five more. 

Crew manager Simon Morgan, along with some of the Walney firefighters including Mike Wilkinson, Gary McDonald and Richard Shipton, invited members of the public and the Evening Mail along to the station in Mill Lane to allow them to try out some of the selection tests new recruits have to complete. 


Simon Morgan Mr Morgan said: "The fire selection tests are split into three sections. 

"We have the bleep running test, a maths, English and psychometric test and then there's the fitness test. The fitness test involves a series of tests which aims to simulate the first five minutes of a rural fire and includes putting some equipment together, dragging a casualty weighing 55kg, climbing a ladder and a claustrophobia test to make sure you can cope in confined spaces."

Walney's fire crew - which recently fought for its future amid plans to close the station - is made up of a mix of individuals, ranging from some on-call firefighters who also work full-time as permanent firefighters such as crew manager Mike Wilkinson, to Gary McDonald, a firefighter at BAE Systems, and Richard Shipton, a semi-retired soldier. 

Despite the burly appearance of some of the firefighters, it isn't all about brute strength, as Mr Morgan explained.

"People tend to have this perception that we're all six foot tall and built like a brick outhouse but that's not the case at all," he said. 

"Everyone brings something different to the team."


Roger Exley Fire station manager Roger Exley, who covers a number of stations across south Cumbria, is involved in the recruitment and interview process and said the key attributes he looks for are communication skills, the ability to work with others, problem solving, a commitment to equality and diversity, confidence and resilience. 

He said: "Whether you're a hairdresser or someone who works in a shop, the message we want to get out is that you can still do this job.

"We want to make people aware they can do this job in tandem with their day job. Anybody can do it, from any walk of life."

On-call firefighters, who used to be referred to as retained firefighters, are entitled to the same employment rights as full-time staff, including sick pay, holidays and maternity or paternity leave. 

As well as a retainer of between £2,158 and £2,877, firefighters are also paid an hourly rate of £13.14 when called out and they are required to be available for between 80 and 90 hours a week. Last year, Walney's crew was called out 176 times and often works alongside the full-time crew at Barrow. 

Mr Exley said: "If you're at a fire, or you're a casualty, you wouldn't know the difference between an on-call firefighter and a full-time firefighter."

"Everyone is trained to exactly the same level, uses exactly the same equipment and does the same job on a call-out."

Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is recruiting around 50 on-call firefighters at 22 fire stations across the county, with vacancies available at Walney, Bootle, Kendal and Coniston. 

Walney is hosting another public open day tomorrow from 11am to 2pm.