Meet the 20 new Northamptonshire firefighters hiring after large-scale recruitment drive

The successful recruits were among 720 hopefuls who responded to a large-scale recruitment campaign, run in October last year.

After a challenging series of interviews and skills tests, 15 men and five women were hired and are now on the road to becoming full-time firefighters.

Chief fire officer Darren Dovey said: “We are delighted to be welcoming the largest number of new, whole-time firefighter recruits to our service for several years.

“The calibre of these men and women is extremely high and they have come a long way through the rigorous recruitment process to impress us with their skills, commitment and potential to reach the standards we expect of our firefighters.

“I wish all of these new entrants luck in their careers and I know they will quickly learn what makes being a firefighter one of the most rewarding paths you can choose to take in your professional life.”

The recruits marked their first day by meeting Mr Dovey and Northamptonshire police, fire and crime commissioner Stephen Mold, whose office helped to fund the new recruits.

Each recruit was also presented with their new uniform as a formal start to the challenging training schedule which lies ahead.

The new starters will now spend one month in Northamptonshire, where they will initially be finding out all about NFRS as an organisation, learning more about prevention and community safety work, as well as visiting the Service’s key sites.

They will then spend two months at the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, where they will be put through their paces learning skills ranging from the use of ladders in working safely at height, to firefighting techniques using breathing apparatus.

Mr Mold said: “I am incredibly proud to welcome these new recruits to Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service.

"They join the service at such an exciting time, when it is changing and investing in the future.

"It’s a privilege for me to have been able to support the largest recruitment drive our fire service has seen for many years and to enable the investment in the new equipment and technology that the service badly needs.

"I know that the firefighters joining us today will have a great career with the fire service and I have high hopes for the part they will all play in keeping our county safe."