County Times reporters take on Female Firefighter Taster Day

After passing exams, fitness tests and interviews, 36 people were recruited as full-time firefighters. Out of those 36, only three were women. And some years, no women are recruited at all.

These numbers have nothing to do with ability; women are just as likely to fall out of the recruitment process as men. It’s entirely down to the amount of women applying to join the fire service in the first place.

And it’s for that reason that the fire service are putting on female firefighter taster days; and that two County Times reporters decided to go down to Newtown Fire Station to take part.

Alison Thomas, the human resources officer for MAWWFRS, led the session.

As she talked us through what the job entails and the recruitment process, it was pretty clear from all her anecdotes that she’s got the best HR job you can get.

“We’re like a big dysfunctional family,” she said.

“We’ve always got each other’s back. That’s what we all take from working here. We’re never always going to get on but somehow it all works.”

The MAWWFRS covers 60 per cent of Wales, from Llanfyllin all the way down to Port Talbot.

There are 57 fire stations, but it’s only at five of those stations that firefighters work full-time; and none of those are in Powys. Here, everyone works on-call.

To become an on-call freighter you have got to be able to get to the fire station within 10 minutes, and live within five miles of the station whenever you’re on shift.

Each contract is unique; you could be on-call at night, or in the day alongside your day job.

And, of course, you’ve got to get through the recruitment process; which largely consists of three exams, a physical fitness test and if you make it that far, an interview.

Kerry Hughes, Watch Manager, was one of the firefighters who led the day, and gave the hopeful new recruits some words of advice. She’s worked in the fire service for 14 years, and has often been the first female firefighter at the stations she has worked at.

“We are still a minority, and that’s why it’s really important that people like you come forward. We all have our strengths and weakness, it doesn’t matter what sex you are. As long as you have the interest and you smash your fitness, you can do it,” she said.

JOSIE: 'Firefighter tests are tough for a reason, as we found out...'

I WAS the one who had to bright idea of signing up for the Female Firefighter Taster Day.

I got sent a press release, asking for us to promote the event. But I thought I’d go one step further and take part myself (and drag a colleague along too). I thought it’d be a great way to get an insight into the job and encourage more women into the service. And it will. But right now every part of me hurts. Still. And I’m writing this five days later.

In the morning, When we were being told about what the job entails and realising we’d forgotten all the maths and physics we had ever learnt in school, the physical session to come got the odd mention. And whenever it did, I’d turn to look at Anwen in shock horror, mouthing things like ‘God, what have we got ourselves into?’ and ‘How are we going to do it?’. We did tasters of the three exams. Surely, I thought, we’d be doing a taster version of the physical test too? Nope. It was the whole hog.

The other girls at the taster day were dead serious about it all. They were about to apply, or already had. Some had got through to the physical tests before, but failed at the final hurdle because they were two seconds too late. And that just upped the pressure even more. It was 20-something degrees, and we were wearing what felt like a duvet; climbing up ladders, lifting up ladders, crawling through cages, dragging bodies (not real ones, don’t worry), and doing what felt like a relay race with heavy fire equipment which seemed to have a mind of its own. It was almost the death of me. The photos of my face, which I’m sure my editor will splash across the page, say it all (thanks Phil). It felt like I was in bottom set PE. I never thought it was possible to sweat from every single inch of your body until now.

But the tests are tough for a reason; they have to be, and they should be. You have to be able to lift a ladder down from the fire engine, to drag a body out of a burning building, to climb through smoke-filled confined spaces without seeing a thing and get to the top of a ladder and back down again without freaking out. If you can’t, you can’t do your job and you can’t save people’s lives.

This was something Kerry Hughes, Watch Manager at the station, was blunt about before we took on the challenge: If being a firefighter is something you want to do, you’ve got to focus and get your act together. You’ve got to be fit enough. It’s the standard, the requirement, and it’s there for a reason.

This just filled me with even more admiration for all the women, and men, who take on the job. Being a reporter also gives me an insight into the work they do, and it’s not always what you’d expect. Of course, there’s the fires, but they’re often the first on the scene at car crashes too, or the first to find a body in a missing person search. They’re physically strong, but they’re emotionally strong too; because they have to be. It’s really not hard to see why they have such a close bond and call each other family.

And much as I can joke about my experience, it was a brilliant day with a great bunch of people; there’s a reason why I can’t shut up about it!

P.S. Big newspaper boss, if you’re reading this (which I’m sure you’re not), can you please let me be on on-call firefighter, if I’m ever fit enough to pass the test?

ANWEN: ‘I scaled new heights, I did it’

I HAVE never considered being a firefighter.

This was definitely going to be a huge challenge for me, but I was up for it and willing to give it a go.

A chat with a group of female firefighters from Powys, who were mostly the only women at their fire stations, gave a brilliant, honest and hilarious account of what it’s like to be an on-call firefighter day-to-day.

Then it got to the real deal: the two-hour physical test.

Considering that I had the fitness level of a jacket potato, it was fair to say that I was absolutely bricking it.

We then got kitted out and dressed in a fire protective suit.

It was time to get mentally prepared for the day. It was going to hurt. A lot.

Every challenge was timed and as close as you could get to a genuine on-call firefighter physical test.

I would never have thought I would be able to climb 44 feet, then perform a leg-lock while leaning backwards without holding on to the ladder, or carry a 50kg dummy walking backwards, then two coiled hoses for 100 metres, and a 30kg barbell for another 100m in a suit that felt hotter than the sun. But I did it.

I completed the course, although not in the time needed to pass the test, but I was so proud to finish the challenge.

It was a test of strength, stamina, confidence and sheer determination.

If I can do it, then anyone can.

Don’t doubt yourself.

Put yourself forward and you will not regret it.

We’d like to thank everyone at the MAWWFRS, especially Alison and everyone at Newtown Fire Station, for being so welcoming and keen to have us take part in the taster day. There will hopefully be more female taster sessions to come, in Newtown and Llandrindod Wells, but it all depends on interest.

If you’re keen, drop Alison Thomas a line on al.thomas@mawwfire.gov.uk