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Deborah Dixon - Life As A Firefighter In Chesterfield


Wednesday 4th July 2012
by CHARLIE HAWKINS



Deborah Dixon - Life As A Firefighter In ChesterfieldDerbyshire Fire and Rescue Service is available to respond to calls across Derbyshire every minute of every day and works hard to reduce the risks of fires, road traffic accidents and other incidents across the county through its activities.

To do this, the Service employs over 1,000 personnel and has a total of 31 fire stations based in strategic areas to cover the local area. In 2007 Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services attended 804,100 fires, or false alarms in the UK, meaning being a fire-fighter is a stressful and very demanding job, as you have to be ready for what hits you.

The Chesterfield Post met with Firefighter Deborah Dixon (below) to find out just what life was like being a firefighter in the Chesterfield area.

The Chesterfield Post met with Firefighter Deborah Dixon to find out just what life was like being a firefighter in the Chesterfield area.

What sort of things made you want you to become a fire-fighter?

"I always wanted to do it as a child. I visited a fire station when I was young and I really enjoyed it. I also met some of the watchmen before I applied. It was always something I was always interested in doing."

What training did you have to take to become a fire-fighter?
"It starts off as a recruitment process by sending an application form. There are fitness tests and also job related tests, for example, you have to climb ladders to prove you're not scared of heights, there are tests in confined spaces and all sorts of things like that. These are done so when you start the job, they know you won't come across things you don't want to do."

What's the worst fire or incident that you have attended to?
"The worst ones tend to be when people are involved, you can go to a really big fire on a really large scale with lots of trucks there, but if nobody is injured, then it's just a fire that needs to be put out! If somebody is inside, it ups the scale a lot. That's what sometimes makes the job scary."

It's not just about fires; it's about prevention as well isn't it?
"Yes it is. In the afternoon we tend to do community safety - fitting smoke alarms, home safety checks, school visits. We have also got a big safety thing on at the moment where a safety crew get involved with the children, which we do here at the station actually, I was involved in the water safety part of that. It's all about educating and preventing things from happening."

What's a typical day like for you?
"We start at 8am, when we get here we do all our safety checks, check the BA (Breathing Apparatus) sets, check the trucks and make sure everything we need is ready to use.

"Every day we have a rota of what we do and that changes every week, we do height training; use the rope sets and things like that. We then do 45 minutes of gym training to maintain fitness. Then we have our lunch break.

"But all this depends on whether we get a call to attend to a fire; it really does depend on what happens.

"Then every afternoon we do community service. We also do something called 'direct engagement' where we actually knock on people's doors and offer them smoke alarms and advice.

"We also do risk assessment where we visit places like Holmewood industrial estate and assess the risks in the area."

What was it like when you were first called to a fire?
"It was more than 3 weeks before I got called actually! Yes, I was nervous, adrenalin was pumping, but my watch (team) were really good, they knew I was nervous, so they told me what I needed to do and they talked me through what had to be done."

It strikes me that it's like a family here, what's it like?
"Yes it is. There's a lot of banter. At the end of the day we spend 4 days a week together, so we have to get on so that if we have problems we can get over them quickly."

And finally - would you recommend the job to young people thinking of fire fighting as a career?
"Yes definitely! But you have to be sure that's what you want to do. If you're scared of heights or anything like that, it's not the job for you, but it's a fantastic opportunity and there are great prospects for promotion and things like that."



For more information on how to become a fire-fighter or to seek advice on how to stay safe from fires and danger visit www.derbys-fire.gov.uk where you will find information on the role Deborah has, along with more useful information about how the Fire Service raise awareness of fires and danger in the community.


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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