While full-time firefighters work 12-hour shifts from a fire station, retained officers with Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) balance outside jobs, family or study while on-call 24/7 from home or work.
Looking to boost their complement of 13 retained firefighters back to 20, Merrylands’ Acting Captain Warren Jones says new recruits receive eight days face-to-face training at the FRNSW’s Orchard Hills facility, with the rest of their training coming on the job but that isn’t a problem for a station which received 1,780 callouts last year.
“Because we are so busy, our experience level just goes through the roof,” he said.
With 25 years under his own suspenders, 21 of them at Merrylands, he says working on-call lets him enjoy a good career in his primary employment, as well the fulfilment of being a firefighter.
“It’s just the act of serving the community and protecting the irreplaceable and vulnerable,” A/Cap Jones said.
“And yes, we do more than fight fires. We also do education, we go to schools, we go to daycare centres, we do home fire safety checks for elderly, people and we change smoke alarms for them. There’s a lot more than just rescues and the hazardous stuff.”
The veteran firefighter says anyone interested in joining their “multicultural crew for a multicultural area” needs to be aged over 18, an Australian citizen with a good level of fitness, and most importantly they need to live within four or five kilometres of the Merrylands station at 340 Merrylands Road.
For more information, call 9895 4600 or visit fire.nsw.gov.au.
