Call for on call firefighters

The fire stations in both towns are crewed by local on call staff who respond to calls either from home or work

“Marcus Reay, the Station Manager of both Wallingford and Goring Fire Station, said: ““The crews are doing an excellent job when they are called upon for emergencies and they are also a key part of the community providing visits for schools, guides and cub scouts.

“We are actively recruiting people who may work in Wallingford or Goring and/or live in those areas. I would encourage more people to come to the station on Wednesday evenings to find out more.

“In the past year Wallingford fire station have attended 290 calls, for a range of incidents including fires, flooding, car crashes, rescues and many others. We had a busy start to the year with crews attending a number of fires and our crew was also involved in the fire at the Randolph Hotel in Oxford and a rescue of a Lady from the Bell tower in St Mary’s church Cholsey.

“Goring attended 68 call outs in the past year, attending several large fires including the South Oxfordshire District Council building and Thatch fire at Roke and the Copthorne Hotel Fire near Reading.

“Our on call teams are real local heroes and we are always interested to hear from anyone who thinks they might have what it takes to join one of our crews.

“Everyone receives full training and a receives payment for this and all emergency calls”

Emily James, who works as a recruitment consultant has been with Goring Fire Station for the past year. She has been working hard to pass her 10 monthly development test and work towards being a breathing apparatus wearer

Emily said: “I wanted to join Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service to give me a new challenge and the opportunity to do some things I have never done before and was exciting whilst also providing a service for the community”

Anyone interested in finding out more about being a on call fire fighter can contact Marcus on07788 183050 or visit either Wallingford or Goring fire station at 1900 on any Wednesday evening.