Meet the on-call firefighter serving local communities for over three decades

One of our longest serving on-call firefighters is encouraging other people across Staffordshire to come forward and apply for the role to support their local community.

Paul Danby has been with the service as an on-call firefighter for an incredible 32 years and is currently representing the Brewood community as Watch Manager at Brewood Fire Station.

Also working as a whole-time firefighter in a neighbouring service, Paul gained his first experiences as a firefighter working on-call at Brewood and was inspired to consider it as a career.

Speaking about what caught his interest in the on-call role, Paul said: "It was 1993, I'd just got married and had a child and like most people, was looking to earn some extra cash to support my family. I saw an advert in our local magazine for on-call firefighters so I discussed it with my wife and she said, 'you won't know unless you go and ask'."

"So I went down to the station and had a chat with the team and haven't looked back since, it's all thanks to my lovely wife!"

"I was actually working in the building industry at the time but the flexibility of on-call really worked for me and my family, I could be on-call at evenings and weekends."

"I fell in love with the job, the excitement, the exhilaration, the team aspect, the camaraderie, all became infectious for me."

With 32 years under his belt Paul has seen a lot of changes throughout his on-call career but his commitment to protecting his local community has remained strong, which is one of the reasons he states for having remained in the on-call role at Brewood for so many years.

Paul said: “I get a lot of satisfaction knowing that I've helped somebody. It could be somebody's worst time of their life that they're going through but we turn up and we put a level of calm into a situation.

"I'm very proud to have looked after the local community for so long, it's been a pleasure.

"Anyone who wants to give back to the community or just earn a little bit of extra cash should come and speak to us about joining the crew because the job is absolutely brilliant.”

Speaking of his proudest moment as an on-call firefighter, when he was called upon to help a town in another area of the country that had been submerged by flood water, Paul recalls how his actions helped a community return to their homes: “I drove one of the high volume pump units down to Kent and we stayed down there for three days, helping to empty a whole estate of about two metres of water.”

Paul, supported by his on-call colleagues at Brewood, is currently trying to recruit the next generation of on-call firefighters from the community.

If you've ever thought about becoming a firefighter or working for the fire service, becoming an on-call firefighter could be the perfect path for you.

The role of an on-call firefighter is exactly the same as that of a full-time firefighter but with one difference – on-call firefighters aren’t based at the fire station all the time, they have an alerter and they only respond when there’s an emergency.

Anyone over the age of 18 who lives within a five-minute radius of an on-call station can apply to become an on-call firefighter, and all applicants will go through the same recruitment and training process.

On-call firefighters receive the same training as full-time firefighters and go through the same rigorous training process, which involves a number of different aspects such as working at heights, breathing apparatus, road traffic collisions and first aid.

Paul said: "I would advise anyone to come and talk to us, just pop down to the station, have a cup of tea with us and we can discuss how we can work together to make on-call firefighting work for you.

"If you don't try then you don't know, that's what my wife said to me 32 years ago and I've not looked back since."

To find out more about the role and to apply, visit On-call firefighter recruitment.