A group of already qualified on-call firefighters have completed their training and are set to embark on their wholetime careers, alongside their on-call roles.
Working across Hampshire and Isle of Wight stations, the group of eight will be balancing their time between their on-call stations, training on their drill night so they are ready to respond to fire-calls via their pagers, and their new wholetime watch.
The group finished their three-week training course on Friday with a ceremony taking place at the HIWFRS headquarters in Eastleigh, where they were presented with their certificates by Chief Fire Officer Neil Odin.
HIWFRS Learning and Development Group Manager Andy Weeks said:
“Our latest graduates are already established members of our Service and the fire and rescue family, working to keep their communities safe from their on-call stations.
“They have shown incredible character in striving to become wholetime firefighters and will now continue to protect our villages, towns and cities across Hampshire and Isle of Wight alongside their new watches, as well as their on-call teams.
“I would like to thank the Learning and Development team who dedicated so much time and effort to making sure the graduates had the best possible learning experience and achieved their goal of a full-time firefighter role.”
Lee Middleton and Ethan Salha are on-call firefighters from Bishop’s Waltham and Botley fire stations, and will both be joining Blue Watch at Southsea Fire Station.
Phil Wareham of Grayshott and Daniel Pearce of Tadley, will be launching their wholetime careers with Rushmoor’s White and Green Watch respectively.
Totton’s Oliver Evans and Romsey’s Karen Ranger will be joining up with their new watch’s at Hightown Fire Station in Southampton.
When he isn’t responding to incidents via his pager at Lymington, David Elkins will be based with Eastleigh’s White Watch.
Joseph Bridgman will be saving lives on St Mary’s Green Watch, having joined HIWFRS from his on-call role with another fire and rescue service.
For the latest recruitment information including details of our recruitment open days, sign up for our email alerts and visit the Careers section of our website.
To find out about becoming an on-call firefighter visit the On-Call Fire website.