Meet Brewood's newest Watch Manager who started his career as an on-call firefighter

Our newest Watch Manager at Brewood Fire Station, Sam Knight, has shared his experience of beginning his career as an on-call firefighter, a role which he describes as an ‘exciting challenge’.

We are currently recruiting new on-call firefighters across Staffordshire, and Sam is keen to highlight the career progression opportunities available through the role.

Sam started his career in 2018, before moving to Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2021, and has been on-call at Brewood for the last two-and-a-half-years.

When speaking about what drew him in initially, Sam said: “It’s about being able to serve the community that you live in.

“Being on-call where you live, you’re serving the community you know and it’s an opportunity to give back to your little part of the county.

“For me, I care about my village and wanted to offer the best fire service possible, so the best way I can serve my village was by becoming an on-call firefighter.”

Sam has also recently taken up the role of Watch Manager at Brewood, after gaining additional qualifications and experience in the service.

He said: “I’d never really considered applying for Watch Manager before, but when I took my first step into the commander role as Crew Manager, it then allowed me to work my way up through the ranks. I’m always up for developing myself and taking opportunities"

“My new role gives me the chance to lead and develop a close-knit team and help other people develop their own skills, which is huge for me as I had so much support from my Watch Manager when I first started in this career.

"The key difference for me in this role is that, when we arrive at an incident, I’m now in the Commander role. I’m generally in charge of the appliance that attends and, if we’re the first on scene, responsible for crew safety and overseeing how the incident is dealt with.

“But I do respond from home just like everyone else and I’m really enjoying the role so far, it’s really rewarding to not only help the community, but your own team too.”

Speaking about one of his favourite things about the role, Sam said it’s being part of a ‘great crew at Brewood.

Sam said: “We’ve got a really close team, and we see a lot of each other outside of work and the camaraderie is brilliant.

“Obviously in this job sometimes you can have rough days, and sometimes things don’t go to plan, but we all support each other through the good and bad.

“If someone is struggling with something, or wants some extra training, they only have to say and we’ll put together an extra session.”

Anyone over the age of 18, who lives or works close to an on-call station can apply to become an on-call firefighter, and all applicants will go through the same recruitment and training process.

Brewood Fire Station is one location currently accepting applications for new on-call firefighters to join the crew. Speaking about this, Sam said: "If you like to help people and are willing to get stuck in, you’ll fit straight into the role.

“The biggest thing for me is being willing to learn and enthusiasm, we can teach you everything you need to know, and we’ll be there to support every step of the way.”

Anyone that is interested in becoming an on-call firefighter at Brewood Fire Station can also pop down to the station between 7pm and 9pm every Tuesday to meet the crew, have a tour of the station, and a detailed chat with Sam where he’ll explain the process and next steps.

To apply, visit On-call firefighter recruitment.

Applications close on Wednesday 11 February.