On-call firefighters sought for new station in Carterton

Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service has announced its intention to recruit on-call firefighters for a new Community Safety Centre due to be built by the county council in Carterton, West Oxfordshire. A site has been identified for the new station and Oxfordshire County Council is in the final stages of negotiations with the developer.

On-call firefighters are people that will go about their daily everyday life until they are alerted to an emergency incident in their area; then they have five minutes to get to their local fire station and respond as a professional firefighter. The role requires a reasonable level of fitness and suits people that enjoy being challenged and thrive in a team orientated environment.

The recruitment drive has started now so that Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service has fully trained staff to take on the role once the station becomes operational.

As well as being used by Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, the building will provide other blue light services and providers of local community services with a location in the heart of the community from where they can provide response, prevention and protection services.

Simon Furlong, Deputy Chief Fire Officer of Oxfordshire County Council’s Fire and Rescue Service said: “By increasing our presence in West Oxfordshire, we believe this facility will significantly improve our emergency response capability in this area and increase our capacity to target and deliver our community safety resources in the areas of most need.”

Councillor Rodney Rose, Oxfordshire County Council’s cabinet member for Fire and Rescue said: “There has been a high level of community interest in this project and the facility will be a real asset for local people.”

Find out more

Applications are now open for the training course starting June 2017 and anyone interested is encouraged to find out more by visiting www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/oncallfirefighters