Meet the veteran now serving local communities as an on-call firefighter

We are currently recruiting for on-call firefighters at various stations across Staffordshire.

To encourage others to consider the role, our newest recruit at Hanley Police and Fire Station, Tony Watson, has shared more about his experience so far.

Tony joined the service in August 2024 and has spent the past year developing his skills, getting to know the team and assisting with incidents across Stoke-on-Trent.

He works full-time as an engineer but prior to this, served in the Royal Artillery, British Army, for five years.

Explaining how his military experience has helped in his new role as an on-call firefighter, Tony said: "When I first joined the service, I found that there were transferrable skills that I learned during my time in the Army.

"For example, both roles have elements of discipline and integrity and you need to have a certain level of fitness and be able to work well as a team.

"In the Army I'd always had an interest in the medical side of things too which is something I'm looking to pick up within the service."

Tony also explained that the flexibility of on-call is something which attracted him to the role as it allows him to balance it alongside full-time work and family commitments.

He said: "I'm mainly on-call at the evenings and on weekends because I work full-time but as a family, we work around it.

"I always print out my declaration and stick it on the fridge so my wife can see when I'm on call and I try and set aside specific family time so that I still get to spend time with my young children.

"You have to be organised but with the right support around you it's really rewarding."

One incident which Tony was called to recently was a large scrapyard fire in Cobridge.

Crews were called to a business on Elder Road on Thursday 24 July and found two garages and a number of vehicles well alight.

Tony and the crew worked to extinguish the fire alongside crews from other stations and thankfully nobody was reported injured.

Tony said: "I was really proud to be part of this incident because it was the first time where I'd really got involved and helped to extinguish the fire.

"It just showed that all of my training had paid off and I was able to be a valuable part of the team, just as much as any wholetime firefighter.”

Looking back on the application process Tony admitted that he was initially hesitant to apply: “I was unsure about applying for the role at first, it actually took three attempts to get me through the door but now I'm so glad that I did, I'm always trying to do the job to the highest standard and it's a great feeling getting to help people like I did last month."

As a service we are committed to supporting serving personal, reservists, veterans and military families, demonstrated through achieving the Employer Recognition Scheme Silver Award of the Armed Forces Covenant last year.

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 - but without the 16-week time restraint - which involves a number of different aspects such as working at heights, breathing apparatus, road traffic collisions and first aid.

Tony said: "The role isn't all about firefighting, there's a lot of community engagement too and I feel proud to be part of the service and getting out into the community and helping people out when they might be having a terrible day."

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