Broken Hill’s Fire and Rescue team are looking for new recruits to bolster their fire-fighting cover, with a call for new on-call and part-time firefighters.
C-Platoon Station Officer at Fire and Rescue NSW Broken Hill, Dale Gillespie, told the Barrier Truth, “recruitment is always a little bit of a challenge for us.”
SO Gillespie has almost 20 years experience in Fire and Rescue. After doing five years in Sydney, he moved on to a 12-year stint in Albury before relocating to the Silver City for the last three and a half years.
SO Gillespie has become an integral part of the community and flagged the need for more ‘on call’ recruits.
He said the station has a good core of career firefighters, but that numbers for the on-call or part time firefighters was, “about half what they need it to be”.
Becoming an on-call firefighter in Broken Hill has some unique opportunities attached. Unlike other jurisdictions, becoming an on-call firefighter is a genuine pathway to becoming a career firefighter.
“Particularly in Broken Hill, it is a bit of a unique pathway. A lot of the time it is not offered elsewhere around the state,” SO Gillespie says.
On-call firefighters respond to local emergency incidents 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They are notified when emergencies occur and are also free to balance other work, study, and family commitments.
“We’re always sort of pushing to try and increase interest and education in the community for anyone that might be interested in applying,” said SO Gillespie.
If you hold at least a provisional drivers license, you’re an Australian resident and you have a passion for protecting your community, head to the link below to register your interest.
