Westbury firefighters’ continued commitment to help the community

DEALING with emergencies and keeping people safe is at the forefront of the work done at Westbury Fire Station, which continues to provide its vital public service, thanks to the commitment of its team of firefighters – including their first female firefighter for over 20 years – and generosity of local employers.

Westbury Fire Station, based in Meadow Lane, is an on-call (retained) station, so all of its firefighters work part-time and have other jobs and commitments. They give time to the Fire & Rescue Service throughout the week and respond to emergency calls when paged.

From the moment their pager goes off, they need to be at the fire station within 4 minutes and leaving again in the fire engine within another minute. Due to the hard work and commitment of the firefighters, this target is achieved about 90% of the time across Wiltshire. Firefighters at Westbury spend an average of 85 hours a week on call, in which they have to be within 4 minutes of the station.

Mark Mason, one of two crew managers at Westbury Fire Station said, “You do have to rotate your life around being on call. Your whole family is involved, as you may have to wake up all hours of the night or not be able to go out in the evenings or go for a pint, so you really need their support. The best part of the job is serving the community. Life is precious and it’s all about protecting life and property.

Jess Horth, who started at the station in August, is the first female firefighter at Westbury in over 20 years. She said, “I’ve always been in male-dominated jobs, having previously worked as a water sports instructor, so this isn’t any different. As a woman, I do feel I have to work harder to prove myself, but being the only woman at the station doesn’t bother me and I get on with everyone.

“I have always wanted to work in the emergency services and being a firefighter seemed the most exciting. A lot of my family are police officers so I wanted to do something a bit different; I love being a firefighter.

When Jess isn’t being a firefighter she works from home on two online clothing businesses. She said, “It’s useful being self-employed  but when my pager goes off I do have to shut the dog away, lock the house and get to the station in under 4 minutes.”

Firefighting has changed over the years as everything has become safer. Jess said, “There are fewer serious road accidents nowadays due to higher quality seat belts and airbags and fewer fires due to better prevention measures.”

More time is also spent educating the community about fire prevention. There is a specific education team working with young people but groups such as Scouts and Brownies still visit Westbury Fire Station and the firefighters visit schools and other groups within the community.

The crew trains at the station every Monday night and this involves a variety of exercises such as ladder and hose drills, practising extrication techniques for people trapped in crashed cars, lectures on new legislation or equipment, and occasionally working with Warminster or Trowbridge.

Whilst training, the firefighters gain first aid skills, manual handling and working at height skills, whilst some can also obtain an HGV licence and learn to drive the fire engine.

To become an on-call firefighter it is necessary to get your employer’s consent. A few of the  firefighters at Westbury work at a near-by trading estate, whilst one is a mortgage advisor and may need to leave suddenly during meetings.

Mark said, “With the downturn in the economy, it is harder for employees to free people up and allow them to be on call. We have struggled to recruit firefighters in the past, but we had eight new people start in the past two years which is unusual and really a testament to the economy in Westbury.

“The advantage to the employer is that they have someone working for them who is first aid trained and it is a great way to give something back to the community.”

Westbury Fire Station would like to thank all the businesses in Westbury who employ on-call firefighters for their continued support. For more information on fire prevention and job vacancies, visit the website at www.wiltsfire.gov.uk.