Waltham Abbey Fire Station holds first training course

Essex County Fire and Rescue Service has held its first on-call firefighter training course at Waltham Abbey Fire Station.
Seven trainee on-call firefighters began their training at Waltham Abbey Fire Station on Monday, 10 May and will take on a two-week intensive training course before they continue their training at stations in West Essex.
The team was welcomed into the fire service in their first week by Jo Turton, Chief Fire Officer / Chief Executive at Essex County Fire and Rescue Service.
Jo Turton said: “It was lovely to meet our new recruits and welcome them into our Service and our fire family. I’d like to thank all seven recruits for their commitment to serving their local communities as on-call firefighters, the difference they’ll make in keeping people safe will be invaluable.
“Holding a course at Waltham Abbey is a first for our Service, and has meant that our on-call firefighters who will be based in this area can train and work with colleagues that they will be serving with once they’ve completed their training. This year so far, we’ve trained more than 45 on-call firefighters and have tried to put on courses across Essex to help people from different parts of the county to train in their local area. Our first two courses were in Dovercourt and we plan to hold another in Canvey Island later this year.
“Waltham Abbey Fire Station is led by a fantastic group of firefighters who are committed to the town they live and work in, and their dedication is helping to make Waltham Abbey a safer place for those who live, work and travel in the area.”
Roger Hirst, Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for Essex said: “On our on-call firefighters do a fantastic job, stepping forwards to protect and help their own communities. We are committed to investing in high quality training and support for our on-call firefighters and I’m delighted that the Service has been able to run this course in Waltham Abbey. Well done to everyone who has joined up and thank you for your service and dedication to your community.”
Sonny Spiller, a trainee on-call firefighter at Waltham Abbey Fire Station who lives and works in the area said: “The training’s good work, the instructors are brilliant and working alongside the other people is quite good as well. I’ve got on really well with everyone around me, it’s quite enjoyable. It’s quite hard work, bit demanding on the body, makes your brain work.”
The new recruits will be based in Waltham Abbey, Ongar and Saffron Walden.
Waltham Abbey Fire Station is an on-call fire station where on-call firefighters are paid to protect their local community by responding to incidents when paged. If you live or work within 5 minutes of Waltham Abbey Fire Station, you could be an on-call firefighter. Find out more about the role at essex-fire.gov.uk/wa

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Well Done fire fighters👍