Eden Fire and Rescue is desperate for firefighters. Duty Commander Alan Gerrard said the small brigade is low on numbers and ready to recruit on-call firefighters who can look forward to working out of a new station in the coming months.
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“We are looking for people from all backgrounds. People can designate the hours they are available but we are especially looking for people with daytime availability Monday to Friday,” Mr Gerrard said.
On-call firefighters receive a fortnightly retainer of $70 and an hourly rate of $30 when responding to a call out or undergoing training.
“Before jumping on a fire engine you need nine days of training, which is then ongoing after that,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Eden Fire Station is prepping for a long-awaited upgrade in coming months.
“We are up to the stage now where the final plans of the Eden station are just about to be approved,” Mr Gerrard said.
“We have the block of land locked in and I think they will start building in six months, if not sooner.”
Mr Gerrard said the skills and training certification for firefighters are also applicable in other jobs.
“We can offer skills and abilities, such as a licence upgrade to drive the trucks. We give chainsaw training, a high level of first aid training and teach how to handle dangerous goods and substances,” he said.
Eden is a specialist Hazmat station, “partly because of all of the cruise liners coming in.
“There is also a lot of rescue training, training with ropes and the use of specialised tools.”
Eden Fire and Rescue is encouraging people to apply. After talking with other country areas, Mr Gerrard said he is being optimistic as they are “trying to get the process down to four months”.
“If someone puts an application in, I will start processing it the next day,” he said.
If you are interested in applying visit fire.nsw.gov.au, or get in touch with the station directly.
“Come down and have a chat to the firefighters – check out one of the drill nights and see what we do.”