Local crew to run activities next month to raise awareness and find new recruits for Benbecula Fire Station
Abigail Taylor
Benbecula Fire Station crewmembers are to run engagement activities around fire safety and a recruitment open day in September.
Local residents can find out more about fire safety in the home from 15th September 2021 to 17th September 2021. Following on from this there will be a recruitment open day on 18th September 2021 where individuals who live in the local area can learn about how to become a firefighter at Benbecula Fire Station.
Station Commander Stephen Thompson said: “We have people coming down from the head office in Stornoway and the first three days are all about engagement with the community on fire safety in the home.
“Saturday is going to be an open day for recruitment to Benbecula Fire Station. We may be focusing on Benbecula but the open day is really for anyone interested in helping their community and people from north or south can find out what is involved and be put in contact with the stations on North Uist and South Uist.
“Hopefully with the open day and the three days before we can target all of the safety issues and have a really useful couple of days.”
Retained and full-time officers deliver fire and rescue services from Benbecula Fire Station. Retained firefighters provide the same full range of emergency services as their whole-time colleagues and generally carry out these duties whilst holding primary employment in various other fields. Some retained crewmembers are self-employed while others work with organisations including Royal Mail, BT and HIAL. Retained firefighters receive a salary and training opportunities, with it now possible to deliver several of the training requirements on Benbecula.
Stephen is encouraging anyone aged eighteen and over who they might be a good fit to sign up for a role at the station to serve the community.
“What we are looking to do is get more firefighters here at this station and joining the fire service is for your community. We train and offer a good wage along with a person’s primary employment.”
Benefits of joining include learning and maintaining new skills, being a part of a community based team and having the chance of progression within the station to roles such as Watch Commander.
“On the day we are going to have the appliances out on show and maybe a car to demonstrate cutting it up. It is not always about firefighting so we want to show that we also, for example, respond to road traffic collisions,” continued Stephen.
“It is for people to come in, see the station, equipment and speak to the firefighters that are here and let them tell their own stories about joining the service. It is open for everybody aged over eighteen, female and male, as long as you can pass the health and fitness tests.”
Stephen added that there is an abundance of resources and support available from the station to ensure candidates pass the fitness test. More information about the requirements of the test will be available on 18th September 2021.
Details on the work of retained firefighters and how to apply can be found on the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service website (www.firescotland.gov.uk). Further details about the activities coming up in September will be published on ampaipear.com.
